Just a guess, Dan, but it looks to me like the white things are some sort of
shelf fungus. They are basically harmless in and of themselves--they are
taking advantage of the condition of the tree, but are not the cause of it.

Some more information would be helpful--where do you live (what's the
climate like)? Has the tree suffered environmental stress--severe drought,
for example? Has the soil recently been regraded, possibly causing damage
to the roots? How does the rest of the tree look--is the foliage normal, or
does it seem to be suffering as well? And so on.

I've got to say, it doesn't look good....how long has the bark looked like
this?

Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Dan Dietrich" wrote in message
...
I have a Maple tree that is has some type of disease on the trunk.
The bark is coming off and there are small white things growing on
it. Has anybody seen this and know how to treat it?
Here is a pictu http://www.esysdev.com/Maple.gif

Thanks in advance...