This up-close is of a Maple tree stump found at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Maple sugaring farm--a very economically important business here. Upon touring the trees being tapped around the farm, we came to a section of large, old Maple trees, many of which were sick or damaged. Since many of the trees were on their last leg , there were three or four taps in their trunks as opposed to the normal 1-2. This particular stump was from a very large Maple that was cut because it could've fallen and damaged the other trees in the area; the dark lines weaving throughout it is actually a fungus that infected it. I thought the black lines were striking against the light, golden heartwood of the stump, and it was surprising to see that though the tree was reduced to a small trunk, it was still being affected negatively by natural organisms.