Lichen and moss are the only two living things in nature that stay vividly green even in winter here in our part of the world so I take pictures of them quite often too. Btw I love your idea to actually take that branch home with you so that you can photograph it from the comfort and privacy of your home without being the weirdo crouching in the mud while trying to get the shots out there in the park :D I mean that´s what I usually look like and feel like when doing these close up shootings :D :/
If there's enough moisture, they survive.
I was so happy to find that branch on the ground, fully covered by lichen. I mean how many occasions are there? It was so good to sit down and take a hundred photos from different angles, change settings, apply filters and so on. You can't do that outside. People would have looked at me with suspension. Not to mention the mud 😂
Well, lichens usually thrive on dead wood rather than living trees so I think finding a branch covered with lichens is not that unusual, I see many of them in forests and even in city parks. It just never occurred to me to actually take such branch home for further inspection and photo shooting, that´s what I found cool about your experiment :)
Now you know 😏