{"id":14342,"date":"2020-05-05T15:01:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T15:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=14342"},"modified":"2025-08-01T11:00:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T15:00:43","slug":"lichens-on-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/lichens-on-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Question: What are these pretty green flower shaped growth spots? Will they damage the tree?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Question:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Are these pretty green flower shaped growth spots lichens? It just appeared on my tree this year. With this type of fungus should I be worried that it could damage the tree?<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-scaled.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"fungusOnTree\" data-rl_caption=\"fungusOnTree\" title=\"fungusOnTree\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-14343 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-500x375.jpg\" alt=\"lichens on tree\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fungusOnTree-250x188.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Answer:<\/strong><br \/>\nLichen is common on trees and not bad either. Those grayish-green patches, come in all sizes and shapes and sometimes covering much of the tree, are not feeding on your woody plants. Lichens grow on the surface of the tree, and do not penetrate any tissue. Instead, they make use of the trunk or branches for support. They can be aesthetically pleasing for many. Lichens play a very significant role as a bio-indicator. They only grow where the air quality is good and have a favorable growing environment. They help filter the air as well\u2026 so, don\u2019t worry, be happy!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources:<br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ag.purdue.edu\/btny\/ppdl\/Pages\/lichens.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lichens<\/a>, Purdue Botany &amp; Plant Pathology<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.purduelandscapereport.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Purdue Plant &amp; Pest Diagnostic Lab<\/a>, Purdue Botany &amp; Plant Pathology<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/edustore.purdue.edu\/bp-143-w.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diseases of Landscape Plants: Leaf Diseases<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/edustore.purdue.edu\/fnr-585-w.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Surface Root Syndrome<\/a>, The Education Store<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/edustore.purdue.edu\/fnr-433-w.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tree Installation: Process and Practices<\/a>, The Education Store<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/ag.purdue.edu\/btny\/ppdl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Purdue Landscape Report<\/a>, Purdue University<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lpconsultinggroup.org\/about-lindsey-purcell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lindsey Purcell<\/a>, Urban Forestry Specialist<br \/>\nPurdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Are these pretty green flower shaped growth spots lichens? It just appeared on my tree this year. With this type of fungus should I be worried that it could damage the tree? Answer: Lichen is common on trees and not bad either. Those grayish-green patches, come in all sizes and shapes and sometimes covering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,80,43,49,53],"tags":[1122,1121,257,262,410],"class_list":["post-14342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forestry","category-trees","category-gardening","category-plants","category-urbanforestry","tag-fungus","tag-lichens","tag-purdue-extension","tag-tree","tag-urban","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14342"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34174,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14342\/revisions\/34174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}