Dying maple trees

[dfmcafee]

I live in the north Georgia mountains and I have several maple trees in the yard which have, what looks to be a gray fungus in the crown. It takes several years but the tree eventually dies and I do not have a clue as to what it might be. I am attaching some photos but the background is so bright it is hard to pick up the detail of the fungus; I will try again on a cloudy day. I would appreciate any help.View attachment 46376

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[arbordoctor]

My first thought was a lichen or moss. If the tree is dying, what about some sort of parasite. All this is speculation. Send a sample to your state diagnostic clinic. It could be a moss or lichen which grows on an already stressed tree and is not actually killing the tree. I obviously do not readily know the answer and have not dealt with this in particular before but hopefully this will get you started in the right direction.

 

[Alberi]

Moss

What you have is a severe lichen and moss infestation. Mosses and lichens thrive in acidified ecosystems. By making the ecosystem more alkaline with limestone you can reverse this trend. Europeans have been liming their forests for decades with great results.