Is this Kretzschmaria deusta?

[ledders666]

This is on a mature beech. It's pretty much died in the course of a year. I always expected to find Kretzschnaria lower down hidden in the buttressed of beech trees. This spreads 5+m up the trunks.

 

Thanks

[Arborowen]

Tricky one from photos. Can't say K doesn't occur this high as this as it can, but usually things are much worse for the tree and usually it would be located along a wound as others have said. There are a number of bark occouring saps that look a bit like the secondary fruit body of K. This doesn't look like it to me.

[Paul Melarange]

It's not K.deusta. It most likely to be Biscogniauxia nummularia. It's common on dead beech or large dysfunctional parts of beech.

[ledders666]

OK thanks. So likely a secondary fungi then?
I wander what did cause the beech to decline so quickly if it was not that

[monkeybusiness]

Terrible photo I’m afraid but this included fork at 6 foot AGL on a sycamore was riddled with what I’m sure was K.deusta, yet no evidence lower down on the stem.