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Name: L
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Question:
I have recently bought a house in Louisiana and several of the trees in the back yard are covered with lichens.They are even on an azelia bush. Are the trees already dead or are they dying because of the lichens? How can you remove or get rid of lichens?Thank You. L.Henry


Replies:
Lichens are usually a sign of good air quality
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/aq/lichen/almanac.htm

I don't think that lichens are a problem, except in some cases with nut trees:
http://cygnus.tamu.edu/Texlab/Nuts/pecan.html

For further info, you might want to check with your local USDA extension office.

Sincerely,

Anthony R. Brach

If you are sure they are lichens, as far as I know, lichens are a sign of a healthy environment. Lichens are extremely sensitive to pollution. A tree without lichens signals that there is too much pollution in the air. One of the tests for forest health involves measuring the percentage of the tree covered in lichen. The higher the percentage, the healthier the forest.

Van Hoeck


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