Hello everybody I have a tree business in New Jersey and have been finding a small rubbery orange clusters on the branches of several Oak trees, these clusters are small raisin like clusters and when the limb is taken off and I bring them inside to be photographed it turns to dry black substance that wraps the limb. What could this be and is it harmful to the trees health?
No, lichen usually isn't, it just sits there! Don't worry about it, it's probably due to the wet weather. There's tons of that stuff in various colors in Nova Scotia all the time, and probably more now that we're sodden.