Wood that glows in the dark?
One of Minnesota?s root and trunk-rotting fungi, Armillaria spp. emits a faint, yellow-green light that can be seen at night. Fox fire. This emission of light from living organisms is called bioluminescence, and it is produced by a few other fungi, bacteria, several insects, and many marine organisms. Armillaria is a fungus that lives as a parasite on living host tissues or as a saprophyte on dead woody material, and it is found throughout the continent. Its hosts include hundreds of species of trees, shrubs, vines and forbs growing in forests, along roadsides and in cultivated areas. On coniferous and broad-leafed trees it feeds on roots and trunks. The reproductive structures of Armillaria are clusters of mushrooms with honey-yellow caps two to five inches across, and yellow-brown, two inch stalks. They are produced in autumn, especially during moist periods.
To see bioluminescence for yourself, take a walk in the woods at dusk and kick some stumps that have decayed and softened. You may then have a shoe that also glows in the dark.