During late June of 2020, I had picked some relatively fresh Schizophyllum commune. By the time I got around to examining them, they had become dried and shriveled. I placed the point of attachment of one into a shallow bowl of water and let it sit for several hours. Later that evening, I checked the specimen and it had rehydrated. What struck me as interesting was that the white coloration that was observed in the forest did not reappear after rehydration. Was white a true color or a secondary effect, perhaps caused by a symbiotic or parasitic relationship with another fungi such as powdery mildew or a variety of Hypomyces?
see attached images
I don't know why the specimen changed color when remoistened. Schizophyllum commune can be white or various shades of buff in nature. Powdery mildews do not attack other fungi. There is a Hypomyces that attacks Schizophyllum, but if your shelf fungus were infected, it would be orange to begin with and you would notice the immersed perithecia.
Thanks for your response. My second thought was that it was chemical. As a geologist, I have observed that certain minerals, when oxidized, weather into a white, powdery, secondary mineral that oftentimes replaces the surface of the original host mineral, particularly, but not exclusive to, iron sulfides. Not saying this is the case here, just expanding on the original observation.
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