Neither a slime mold nor s lichen nor a fungus: Found at Pacific Grove on a Monterey Cypress:

“Trentepohlia aurea is a species of filamentous terrestrial green alga with a worldwide distribution. It grows on rocks, old walls and the trunks and branches of trees such as oaks and the Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) where the tree occurs in coastal central California. The orange coloration results from carotenoid pigments in the algal cells.”