Green fungus(?) - should I be worried?

[jillyjill]

Hi. I have a number of trees on my property that have developed what looks like a green fungus on the trunk. It seems to have gotten worse in the last year. Is this a disease? Should I be concerned? Can I do anything about this unsightly condition?

Thanks!
jill

 

[lone wolf]

no dont worry.http://www.nybg.org/bsci/lichens/

 

[jillyjill]

Ahh, lichens! One follow-up...

Thanks Lone Wolf. So lichens is what I have.

One follow-up, if I may. Should this tree (and others that have 3 parts) be left as is, or is it better for the health of the tree that I cut off the left and right parts and only keep the middle?

jill

 

[lone wolf]

depends on the condition if they look strong than no problem otherwise just look at it and be the judge.

 

[treemandan]

Yes, you should be worried, in fact downright scared but not about the green stuff on the trees.

 

[jillyjill]

Scared?

Yes, you should be worried, in fact downright scared but not about the green stuff on the trees.

Ok...just tell me what I should be scared about then :-0

 

[ATH]

Yep...those are lichens.

The thing I generally also add when talking about lichens on trees:

Lichens do better with a little more sun. So...if you had no lichens on the tree, then "suddenly" they start appearing and you look up and realize your tree is worse shape than it was a few years ago the natural tendency is to blame the tree's decline on the green fungus you see on the trunk. HOWEVER, that is a case of reversed cause and effect. Something else caused the tree to decline. The lichens are now able to thrive in the newly available sunlight. So while they do often correspond to the timing of the tree's decline, they have NOTHING to do with the cause of it.