fungus on crape myrtle (growing, bug, 2014, trees)

[tramp]

I have this fungus on a crepe myrtle. The tree is covered with this fungus. The tree is about 20 years old and it is a miniature or a dwarf crepe myrtle. How can I get rid of it. A lot of the branches this fungus is on are dead.

[Zoisite]

That's actually a lichen on the tree, it appears to be one of the many species in the Foliose family of lichens but it also has a lot of similarities to certain species of the Fruticose family of lichens - but I don't know which one it is because there are so many of them.

Generally lichens are actually useful to have in any environment and quite beneficial to have growing on trees and don't harm trees. They are not pathogenic and to date there is no known control method to use on lichens. They are compatible growing on healthy trees since they are not parasitic or harmful on plants and don't take nutrients from them, the lichens mostly get their nutrients from the air and from moisture and already dead organic material in their environment.

But lichens will also grow more profusely on trees and plants that are already dead or are really sick and dying and usually beyond recovery. So I'm thinking that the reason why that lichen is growing so thickly on your crape myrtle is because your tree was already dying long before the lichen found it, the tree isn't dying because of the lichen.

Here is some information that explains about lichens and may help you to understand what lichens are, how they are beneficial to the environment, and what you're dealing with. There are several pages to the second link and it also has photo galleries of several of the lichens in the three categories Crustose, Fruticose and Foliose lichens. The photo galleries might help you to identify the species growing on your tree. You can also do an image search online of lichens to try to find the name and type of the lichen you have on your tree.

https://plantclinic.tamu.edu/2014/04...ng-your-trees/

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/be...ns/about.shtml

I'd suggest you remove the branches that are already dead or are obviously dying and try to treat the tree for whatever disease it has if you wish, and if you can discover what the disease is (it could be old age) and frankly I think your tree is already toasted - but I doubt that it is the lichen that is responsible for the disease or making it get worse. It's just growing on the surface of the dead and dying stuff. If you can identify the type of lichen you have you will get a better idea of how you might be able to get rid of the lichen if you aren't ready to cut down the whole tree yet.

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[luv4horses]

Lichens are primarily on the surface with only small amounts of material grabbing on to the bark. As a result they are perfectly safe for the tree and will not harm it. The types of fungus that do harm are those that invade the center of the tree and clog the water supply. Those you don’t usually know about until it’s too late. But this stuff is harmless and actually pretty to a lot of people.

[writerwife]

Do keep an eye on crepe myrtles tho. I hired an arborist last summer to check out a maple tree that isn't looking too good and when he got out of his car he beelined for my crepe myrtle. He said there as a bug that's been attacking crepe myrtles and had moved into Alabama in the past 3 yrs. Sure enough, it had them. He had to point them out to me as I would never have noticed it as a pest. It's crepe myrtle bark scale. The big problem was that if the scale wasn't dealt with it would infect the tree with a bad fungus that would begin to literally drip to the ground all around the tree and you'd really have a nasty mess on your hands. I only had a few of them on the tree, looked like little tiny white grain of rice almost and not moving.

I only had a few of them that looked just like the 2nd pic on page 2 at this link -

https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/...ions/p2938.pdf


He told me to get the Bayer tree and shrub protect and feed (which was pretty darn expensive) and follow the directions and probably do it once a yr. So, that's what I did.
I since spoke to a master gardener and she told me to get this stuff.... much less expensive and actually has more of the active ingredient. She said the best time to use it was in spring just as the tree was beginning to bud.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


So anyway.. this obviously isn't what you're dealing with here but.. it's certainly worth checking for since it's getting pretty invasive.

[sasie123]

I am wondering if this will also happen to my Crepe Myrtles.......they are so beautiful now...!!!!

[tramp]

Had to cut this tree down pretty low as too much fungus and most of the branches were dead. The bottom part of the tree had no fungus. New growth seems to be doing pretty good. I have other trees with dead branches and this fungus. It seems the branches that have this fungus dies. I have two neighbors that have fungus on their trees and the trees are not doing to good at all.

[writerwife]

Oh, that's too bad. But... looks like it's coming back well !

[Rickcin]

It’s now a Bonsai Tree❗️

[luv4horses]

Now you need to prevent the scale insects from coming back. Check with the county agricultural extension agent or a knowledgeable horticulture student or supplier.

[movin2Reston]

Cannot recommend this product enough.

https://www.bioadvanced.com/products...ed-concentrate

Originally Posted by tramp

Had to cut this tree down pretty low as too much fungus and most of the branches were dead. The bottom part of the tree had no fungus. New growth seems to be doing pretty good. I have other trees with dead branches and this fungus. It seems the branches that have this fungus dies. I have two neighbors that have fungus on their trees and the trees are not doing to good at all.