This bark, examined by itself (at left), does not look much like a beech.

But the roots, and the sprouts growing out of the roots, do. (Note the pale leaf clinging to the young branch in center.)

The shape and general character of the tree trunk (at right) also look like typical beech structure.

Beech bark is subject to many diseases, but this is a pattern I haven't seen yet. It seems so endemic to this tree that there's not a stretch of bark (except perhaps the roots) not affected by this cracked-mud pattern.