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A variety of novel hierarchical nanostructures with 6-, 4-, and 2-fold symmetries have been successfully grown by a vapor transport and condensation technique. It was found that the major core nanowires are single-crystal In₂O₃ with 6, 4, and 2 facets, and the secondary nanorods are single-crystal hexagonal ZnO and grow either perpendicular on or slanted to all the facets of the core In₂O₃ nanowires. The core In₂O₃ nanowires have diameters of about 50−500 nm, whereas the secondary ZnO nanorods have diameters of about 20−200 nm. Depending on the diameter of the core In₂O₃ nanowires, the secondary ZnO nanorods grow either as a single row or multiple rows. These hierarchical heteronanostructures may find applications in a variety of fields such as field emission, photovoltaics, transparent EMI shielding, supercapacitors, fuel cells, high strength and multifunctional nanocomposites, etc. that require not …