Ramalina
Like a moth on the trunk
It's a lichen, of that I'm sure. But I can't help but see a green moth with softly fluttering wings.
Years ago, a microscopic particle floated on the air and lit on the crabapple tree. Nature watched with patient eyes as it grew into a being that now even my human senses can perceive. I think this lichen is Ramalina sinensis.
But that is by no means assured. There are numerous lichens in the genus, and they are difficult to tell apart. Location is often an important clue. And Ramalina sinensis is not known from eastern Iowa. So maybe it's another Ramalina, such as R. americana.
Ramalina is a genus that does not attach to its substrate evenly on the underside, like the sticky side of a label. Each Ramalina lichen is attached at a central point. From that holdfast, the leafy lobes hang down like rags. This lichen looked as if it would be floppy, but when I touched it I found that actually it was pretty stiff, like a corn chip.
More about this Ramalina
Ramalina is commonly called Burning Bush Lichen. (I think it's a stretch, but maybe it reminded someone of flames flickering outward?) It is also called by the common names of Fan Ribbon Lichen and Threadbare Ribbon Lichen.
I sent the photo to a professor of lichenology. He said that Ramalina sinensis has never been found in eastern Iowa. For that reason it would be more likely to be Ramalina americana, which is found here. But it looks more like R. sinensis. He invited me to send him a sample and said he'd try to identify it. Then he modestly added that he is not an expert on Ramalina.
Whatever it is, it seems alive in an almost animal way. As if it flew in like a moth and paused there, but so slowly that only the long-lived spirits of the forest can see it moving.
— Diane Porter, Fairfield, Iowa, February 25, 2022