unclass_dend(dend, ...)

# define dendrogram object to play with:
hc <- hclust(dist(USArrests[1:3, ]), "ave")
dend <- as.dendrogram(hc)

itself <- function(x) x
dend <- dendrapply(dend, itself)
unclass(dend) # this only returns a list with
# two dendrogram objects inside it.
str(dend) # this is a great way to show a dendrogram,
# but it doesn't help us understand how the R object is built.
str(unclass(dend)) # this is a great way to show a dendrogram,
# but it doesn't help us understand how the R object is built.
unclass_dend(dend) # this only returns a list
#  with two dendrogram objects inside it.
str(unclass_dend(dend)) # NOW we can more easily understand
# how the dendrogram object is structured...