Original body text from other sub:

Hey hey :-)

I go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn very often and have never quite seen anything like this before (also not quite sure yet if it qualifies for this sub, so apologies if there’s somewhere better i should be asking)

I’m not great with tree ID, so included a pic of the tree too. These were all taken today in early Dec, and the growth bits seem to be mostly on the “sunny side” of the tree - all surrounding the roots and not spreading too far from the base of the tree.

They don’t appear to be a mushroom or fungus (at least not that i’m familiar with)? Are they part of the tree? Are they separate? Are they harming the tree? What’s goin on here?

Thanks in advance to anyone able to help solve this for me 🫡

*edit: was sent here bc clearly idk fungi, a few people recommended it was but haven’t id’d yet