Does anyone know what this is growing around the trunk of this ash tree? Please disregard the horrible suckers that need to be removed, but they also have the weird growth.
Looks like a slime mould (Myxomycota). This is a harmless soil-dwelling organism feeding on the mulch (and converting it into plant nutrients), that climbs up other things (could just as easily have been on a rock, as a tree) to get extra height to assist spore dispersal. Once the spores have dispersed, the above-ground growth will rot away quite quickly.
