What are these...

[matdand]

On a sugar maple. The bark is peeling off on about 30 feet and there's major dieback in the crown. Two other maples close by are also starting to show dieback but much less severe. Im suspecting verticilium wilt in all three but the one with these things is def. the worst. Small gelatin-like pockets all over the trunk. Fungus? Insect? Bacteria? Anyone?

 

[matdand]

Another...

 

[Blinky]

I'm gonna guess it's a species of Tremella since the one with the most dieback is the host. It's parasitic.

But I ain't doing so hot on fungus ID lately so done take my word for it.

 

[KTSmith]

Could be Tremella. Because of the rounded hump-like thallus, I'm leaning more towards an Exidia. The Exidia we most commonly encounter are black, but there are tan and salmon-colored ones, even a white one. A few minutes with a razor blade and microscope would resolve the broad genus question pretty quickly.
Whichever it is, I reckon it is making a living on the already dead part of the sugar maple and did not kill that part.

 

[Blinky]

KT Smith ROCKS!!

 

[KTSmith]

Thanks Blinky for the support.
Treebuzz is a great opportunity for all of us! I learn a lot by poking around here.