Lichens on apple tree branches

[Hedera]

These I took earlier this year. A lot more seem to be growing recently. I don't know much about lichens except they look rather pretty!

[JennyS]

Hi Hedera, the same lichen is in all three of your photo's - Xanthoria parietina, usually with yellow lobes but they can be nearly grey in shaded situations.

The second photo shows a blue-grey lichen below the Xanthoria which is probably a Physcia but it needs a clearer photo to be sure.

[SAHop]

That lichen seems to be prolific since last summer.... and the most of the trees which have it on seem to die within 6 months. It is all over my garage roof now and the moss which used to be on the roof has shrivelled up and fallen off. How is the apple tree looking - any sign of buds/blossom?

[Hedera]

The tree, my James Grieve, seems to have a lot more lichen on it. Took this today. Buds are swelling. Other trees have some as well. They are about 40 years planted.

[JennyS]

That lichen seems to be prolific since last summer.... and the most of the trees which have it on seem to die within 6 months

Hi SAHop, whatever is killing the trees its not the lichen on them.

If you think there is a serious problem with many trees in your area dying suddenly it might be an idea to get photographs, specimens and possibly soil samples and contact your local environmental organisation.

Do you live in an area that could have been affected by pesticide spraying or anything similar?

[SAHop]

I live in near Thrapston in East Northamptonshire in the countryside. Farming is a mixture of arable and cattle. There are old gravel pits now used as sailing and fishing lakes and the river nene flows through the countryside.

I have been phoning and writing to people since last summer about the trees and hedges. The forestry commission looked at photos last autumn and said

Without being able to examine the trees and the site, I cannot be specific on what may be causing the decline but, from your photos, clearly some trees are in obvious decline. It may be something as simple as waterlogging, especially for the conifers, but it would need a more detailed investigation. I am copying this reply to the Northamptonshire Wildlife email address in one of your emails and they may wish to arrange an investigation. I am attaching details of the service we provide for their information.

Sadly Northamptonshire Wildlife wouldn't agree to me meeting them and showing them the area(s) of concern and said all they could see was a few mature willows splitting. Although I am not a tree expert, I know that the problem is not confined to willows; Many species of tree are affected. The problem is very widespread now in patches along the nene and in Titchmarsh and Fermyn Woods and as far north as Kingscliffe.

I have tried to engage Look East and the local press and have spoken to my MP who said he would contact DEFRA for me but I still have not had a response. When I contacted DEFRA myself at the beginning of January, they told me

"Thank you for the attached information which I have passed to one of our Plant Health Inspectors, the UK Phytophthora team and the Forestry Commission. I will contact you again as soon I receive their responses."

I have heard nothing since.

I have hundreds of photos. I have attached a couple and will try to download a couple more later today when I have time as these were taken in the autumn and things are much worse now. I have spent so many hours trying to get someone to look into this problem and don't know where to go next...

[ashgale]

i,m no expert on these matters, but the trees depicted in your photos all look pretty natural to me, all the one shown are a common sight in most woodlands around here,
the orange bloom on the trunk of the first one could be a harmless algae,
the conifers could just be the victims of wind burn, after the very cold spell we had, although why it has only affected two of the three shown is a puzzle, but if it was down to pollutants or similar causes why are not all three affected ?
over the years i have lost conifers in the garden following a period of very cold winds, while others remained fine, whatever the cause, a puzzle in itself,

and the log in the last picture appears to be be just following the natural cycle of decay,

perhaps some one with more knowledge of forestry work has a more plausible explanation of the affects shown in your pics,

ashgale.

[animartco]

Hi Sahop. Of course the thing to do is wait and see how many come into leaf. But you are showing a lot of pictures of a very agressive looking canker which seems to have been around for a while since one tree has been eaten away at the bottom for many years. Ashgale has a point though. If you are not used to being around natural unmanaged woodland, it is difficult to judge whether there is something really serious going on or not. The conifer you show certainly looks as if it has died, but some of the golden varieties are not as hardy as the green and the severe winter we have had would have been responsible for that demise. There wouldn't be any runoff from fields above 'the wildwood' would there? If a farmer had been putting broadleaf killer on grass for years... Oh well see how they come up in the spring.