This thing is common?
This sort of looks like the fictional desert creature, the Sarlacc. Those weird, pointy growths are a bit unsettling, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they wriggled around on their own accord. This seems like one of those problems that can only be solved by a flamethrower.
Well, it turns out that there’s no cause for alarm here. Those pointy objects are branches that are growing inward and rotting at a different rate as the rest of the dead stump. As for why the top is so shiny, it’s possibly due to the tree’s natural resin drying out. Nothing to see here, folks!