Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

Lucky bugger. If there are any inmy bush, there’s no way anyone can stumble around in the dark. Too many sharp things.

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

You need a very long exposure for the glowing photos, I’m told.

buffy said:

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

You need a very long exposure for the glowing photos, I’m told.

And a tripod.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

You need a very long exposure for the glowing photos, I’m told.

And a tripod.

These were taken at a 30 second exposure.

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

very cool…

It was a fun excursion into the dark dark forest! Will go again tonight with Podzol if it is not raining.

My picture from last night. 25 seconds exposure time for this one. The ones set for 30 seconds are not as good. fsm told me what camera settings to use (and had given me the good camera as well), so I reckon this is his shot.

Great shots, you should submit them somewhere.

Peak Warming Man said:

Great shots, you should submit them somewhere.

more important than here.

ruby said:

It was a fun excursion into the dark dark forest! Will go again tonight with Podzol if it is not raining.

My picture from last night. 25 seconds exposure time for this one. The ones set for 30 seconds are not as good. fsm told me what camera settings to use (and had given me the good camera as well), so I reckon this is his shot.

Gorgeous. :)

Arts said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Great shots, you should submit them somewhere.

more important than here.

fungimap.

Wow. Well done fsm and ruby. Brilliant!

And as a biproduct of your fantastic 25-30 second, long-exposure photographs, we’ve now got a dedicated mushroom thread.

:)

There have been quite a lot of ghost fungus observations on iNaturalist (some go through Fungimap – Fungimap uses iNaturalist for observations these days). They aren’t as impressive in daylight.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6744&subview=table&taxon_id=155166

Fungimap project at iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungimap-australia

Michael V said:

Wow. Well done fsm and ruby. Brilliant!

And as a biproduct of your fantastic 25-30 second, long-exposure photographs, we’ve now got a dedicated mushroom thread.

:)

Oh yes, nice to have a proper mushroom thread for this and future finds!

We are being very careful of giving away locations for these, as the sites get trashed by photographers trying to get pictures.
fsm and I trod very carefully and minimally to get these shots.

Michael V said:

Wow. Well done fsm and ruby. Brilliant!

And as a biproduct of your fantastic 25-30 second, long-exposure photographs, we’ve now got a dedicated mushroom thread.

:)

:) and they are all magical.

ruby said:

Michael V said:

Wow. Well done fsm and ruby. Brilliant!

And as a biproduct of your fantastic 25-30 second, long-exposure photographs, we’ve now got a dedicated mushroom thread.

:)

Oh yes, nice to have a proper mushroom thread for this and future finds!

We are being very careful of giving away locations for these, as the sites get trashed by photographers trying to get pictures.
fsm and I trod very carefully and minimally to get these shots.

Yes. It is unfortunate that some people just can’t leave things alone.

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

Science teacher he may be but he doesn’t sound like a mycologist.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

Science teacher he may be but he doesn’t sound like a mycologist.

He is one of the originators of the Fungimap project.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

Science teacher he may be but he doesn’t sound like a mycologist.

He is one of the originators of the Fungimap project.

And was a friend of Ian McCann.

buffy said:

There have been quite a lot of ghost fungus observations on iNaturalist (some go through Fungimap – Fungimap uses iNaturalist for observations these days). They aren’t as impressive in daylight.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6744&subview=table&taxon_id=155166

Fungimap project at iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungimap-australia

Thanks Buffy!

Arts said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Great shots, you should submit them somewhere.

more important than here.

Where are these mythical places?

ruby said:

buffy said:

There have been quite a lot of ghost fungus observations on iNaturalist (some go through Fungimap – Fungimap uses iNaturalist for observations these days). They aren’t as impressive in daylight.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6744&subview=table&taxon_id=155166

Fungimap project at iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungimap-australia

Thanks Buffy!

I’m happy to promote Fungimap. I’ve been contributing since back near the very beginning, when the way you sent in observations was with a paper report posted the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. Later we progressed to sending in discs. And digital photography was a fantastic innovation! I’ve really revved up my contributions this year, as I’m both retired and there has finally been some rain. There was no real fungi season here last year as it didn’t rain until about September or something.

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

The Rev Dodgson said:

Arts said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Great shots, you should submit them somewhere.

more important than here.

Where are these mythical places?

I have supplied a Fungimap observation link. By the way ruby, you can make the location obtuse, you don’t have to be exact.

buffy said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Arts said:

more important than here.

Where are these mythical places?

I have supplied a Fungimap observation link. By the way ruby, you can make the location obtuse, you don’t have to be exact.

It was just an ironic comment about the status of this place buffy :)

buffy said:

you can make the location obtuse, you don’t have to be exact.

Thumbs up to that.
I read a couple of accounts of people visiting ghost fungi sites, of photographers breaking fungi off and moving them around for their ‘perfect’ picture

roughbarked said:

ruby said:

Michael V said:

Wow. Well done fsm and ruby. Brilliant!

And as a biproduct of your fantastic 25-30 second, long-exposure photographs, we’ve now got a dedicated mushroom thread.

:)

Oh yes, nice to have a proper mushroom thread for this and future finds!

We are being very careful of giving away locations for these, as the sites get trashed by photographers trying to get pictures.
fsm and I trod very carefully and minimally to get these shots.

Yes. It is unfortunate that some people just can’t leave things alone.

shakes fist at Poiky

I once saw a group of bioluminescent sporocarps, but they emerged from the ground, not a tree. By morning they were gone – presumably eaten by animals. That was near the sea on the mid north coast of NSW.

ruby said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

But does taking a fungi off its substrate kill it outright? Honest question. Fungi aren’t plants, so they might be able to cope with being detached from their food; animals can. If you put the fungi back in the right conditions soon enough could you keep it living in a shoebox?

Also, beautiful pictures, Ruby and Fish :-)

becklefreckle said:

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

But does taking a fungi off its substrate kill it outright? Honest question. Fungi aren’t plants, so they might be able to cope with being detached from their food; animals can. If you put the fungi back in the right conditions soon enough could you keep it living in a shoebox?

The mushroom is only the fruiting part of the fungus and to remove it is similar to removing an apple from its tree. It will last for a certain period of time depending on the conditions it is stored, but it will begin to deteriorate especially after its spores are released.

PermeateFree said:

becklefreckle said:

SCIENCE said:

Surely killing something puts its light out.

But does taking a fungi off its substrate kill it outright? Honest question. Fungi aren’t plants, so they might be able to cope with being detached from their food; animals can. If you put the fungi back in the right conditions soon enough could you keep it living in a shoebox?

The mushroom is only the fruiting part of the fungus and to remove it is similar to removing an apple from its tree. It will last for a certain period of time depending on the conditions it is stored, but it will begin to deteriorate especially after its spores are released.

This.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

Science teacher he may be but he doesn’t sound like a mycologist.

He is one of the originators of the Fungimap project.

OK. Well maybe it was early in his career.

buffy said:

ruby said:

buffy said:

There have been quite a lot of ghost fungus observations on iNaturalist (some go through Fungimap – Fungimap uses iNaturalist for observations these days). They aren’t as impressive in daylight.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6744&subview=table&taxon_id=155166

Fungimap project at iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/fungimap-australia

Thanks Buffy!

I’m happy to promote Fungimap. I’ve been contributing since back near the very beginning, when the way you sent in observations was with a paper report posted the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. Later we progressed to sending in discs. And digital photography was a fantastic innovation! I’ve really revved up my contributions this year, as I’m both retired and there has finally been some rain. There was no real fungi season here last year as it didn’t rain until about September or something.

About tiime I got around to it as well.

ruby said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

You may find out if you go back and check.

Michael V said:

I once saw a group of bioluminescent sporocarps, but they emerged from the ground, not a tree. By morning they were gone – presumably eaten by animals. That was near the sea on the mid north coast of NSW.

If you watch all fungi/sporocarps either get eaten or partially eaten and otherwise rot away quickly.

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

buffy said:

My naturalist friend in his 80s was a science teacher. He told me a story about ghost fungi. He thought it would be a good idea to show them to his class. So he collected some and put them in a shoebox. And cut a little viewing hole. Seemed fine and was working. But when he got to school the next day..all dark in there. He said he didn’t know exactly why, presumably they needed to be on their substrate to continue their glowing work.

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

Expereinced in turning out the lights are we?

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

Expereinced in turning out the lights are we?

Like the gloworm caught in the harem. He was de-lighted.

It’s a lovely calm green light.

becklefreckle said:

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

That’s interesting.
fsm noticed that there was one of the ghost fungi among last night’s large group that had zero glow. It seemed perfectly normal and healthy. Perhaps it had become dislodged. Or there may have been something else going on

Surely killing something puts its light out.

But does taking a fungi off its substrate kill it outright? Honest question. Fungi aren’t plants, so they might be able to cope with being detached from their food; animals can. If you put the fungi back in the right conditions soon enough could you keep it living in a shoebox?

It will still drop its spores. This is hhow spore prints are taken.

becklefreckle said:

Also, beautiful pictures, Ruby and Fish :-)

ditto.

Tamb said:

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

Surely killing something puts its light out.

Expereinced in turning out the lights are we?

Like the gloworm caught in the harem. He was de-lighted.

snuffed.

Bubblecar said:

It’s a lovely calm green light.

True. It would be a pleasant place to sit and look.

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Arts said:

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Blue is common. As well as pink.

roughbarked said:

Arts said:

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Blue is common. As well as pink.

So bioluminescents are a bunch of queers.

SCIENCE said:

roughbarked said:

Arts said:

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Blue is common. As well as pink.

So bioluminescents are a bunch of queers.

Blue for boys & pink for girls.

Arts said:

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Yes. Blue is most common. Green is also common. Red and yellow are rarer.

SCIENCE said:

roughbarked said:

Arts said:

can bioluminescence be in any other colour?

Blue is common. As well as pink.

So bioluminescents are a bunch of queers.

See what I mean?
Fucking waste of your time.

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

roughbarked said:

Blue is common. As well as pink.

So bioluminescents are a bunch of queers.

See what I mean?
Fucking waste of your time.

Hey, it’s all right, we were just chucking a Harry Bumfries¡

SCIENCE said:

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

So bioluminescents are a bunch of queers.

See what I mean?
Fucking waste of your time.

Hey, it’s all right, we were just chucking a Harry Bumfries¡

What it does, is make me jump over most of your posts.

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

Mushroom mania.

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

I go only as far as family with IDs of those ephemeral things that go molten in about 24 hours. Psathyrellaceae. After that, I wait for the experts.

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

roughbarked said:

See what I mean?
Fucking waste of your time.

Hey, it’s all right, we were just chucking a Harry Bumfries¡

What it does, is make me jump over most of your posts.

It’s fine, we’ren’t here for the love, we’re here for the archives, but we love* yous all anyway¡

*: στοργη or perhaps even αγαπη if you really want

roughbarked said:

Bubblecar said:

It’s a lovely calm green light.

True. It would be a pleasant place to sit and look.

To the naked eye it looks like a dull white glow. The long exposure by the camera shows it as green.

fsm said:

roughbarked said:

Bubblecar said:

It’s a lovely calm green light.

True. It would be a pleasant place to sit and look.

To the naked eye it looks like a dull white glow. The long exposure by the camera shows it as green.

Did you use a small aperture?

Michael V said:

fsm said:

roughbarked said:

True. It would be a pleasant place to sit and look.

To the naked eye it looks like a dull white glow. The long exposure by the camera shows it as green.

Did you use a small aperture?

I used a 50mm f1.8 Ruby used a 35mm f4.5
Focusing in pitch dark was the hardest bit. The moon had set and cloud obscured all of the starlight.

fsm said:

Michael V said:

fsm said:

To the naked eye it looks like a dull white glow. The long exposure by the camera shows it as green.

Did you use a small aperture?

I used a 50mm f1.8 Ruby used a 35mm f4.5
Focusing in pitch dark was the hardest bit. The moon had set and cloud obscured all of the starlight.

Thanks for that.

:)

ruby said:

It was a fun excursion into the dark dark forest! Will go again tonight with Podzol if it is not raining.

My picture from last night. 25 seconds exposure time for this one. The ones set for 30 seconds are not as good. fsm told me what camera settings to use (and had given me the good camera as well), so I reckon this is his shot.

Wow, alien spaceship in deep space.

Tonight we once again ventured into the haunted forest to discover the magical martian mushies. Unfortunately, they are past their prime and are beginning to split and fall.

fsm said:

Tonight we once again ventured into the haunted forest to discover the magical martian mushies. Unfortunately, they are past their prime and are beginning to split and fall.

I like the way they sort of pagoda up the tree.

buffy said:

fsm said:

Tonight we once again ventured into the haunted forest to discover the magical martian mushies. Unfortunately, they are past their prime and are beginning to split and fall.

I like the way they sort of pagoda up the tree.

Oh, I like that idea Buffy.

My daughter and hubby and the grandkids came along tonight, plus Podzol from the old Scribbly forum.
My grand daughter was most amused at the sight of me lying flat on the ground trying to line up a shot. They had walked the track a few days ago and not seen the fungi, but had seen some very impressive ants nests clustered there.

There were broken bits of the ghost fungi lying on the ground, they were glowing too.

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

ruby said:

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

buffy said:

ruby said:

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

“The ghost fungus contains a light-emitting substance called luciferin (lucifer meaning light-bringing). In the presence of oxygen, luciferin is oxidised by an enzyme called luciferase. As a result of this chemical reaction, energy is released as a greenish light.”

https://theconversation.com/the-glowing-ghost-mushroom-looks-like-it-comes-from-a-fungal-netherworld-111607

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

There’s a lot there.

fsm said:

buffy said:

ruby said:

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

“The ghost fungus contains a light-emitting substance called luciferin (lucifer meaning light-bringing). In the presence of oxygen, luciferin is oxidised by an enzyme called luciferase. As a result of this chemical reaction, energy is released as a greenish light.”

https://theconversation.com/the-glowing-ghost-mushroom-looks-like-it-comes-from-a-fungal-netherworld-111607

So they must be glowing all the time then, you just can’t see it in daylight.

buffy said:

ruby said:

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

Good question Buffy. Will have to visit every night to make observations.

ruby said:

buffy said:

ruby said:

Oh, and the glow from the fungi tonight seemed to be a bit brighter than last night too. I had warned the family not to expect too much, but they thought it was a pretty good spectacle, even without the eerie green glow that comes up in the photos.

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

Good question Buffy. Will have to visit every night to make observations.

Mushrooms themselves do require sun or maybe they’d do their thing underground?

buffy said:

fsm said:

buffy said:

Was it a sunnier day? Do they “catch the sun” like glow in the dark stickers? (I don’t know. Just making things up)

“The ghost fungus contains a light-emitting substance called luciferin (lucifer meaning light-bringing). In the presence of oxygen, luciferin is oxidised by an enzyme called luciferase. As a result of this chemical reaction, energy is released as a greenish light.”

https://theconversation.com/the-glowing-ghost-mushroom-looks-like-it-comes-from-a-fungal-netherworld-111607

So they must be glowing all the time then, you just can’t see it in daylight.

fsm has said that he wants to try photographing them in the daytime to capture that.

A good article on glow-in-the-dark stuff-
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/bioluminescence/

ruby said:

buffy said:

fsm said:

“The ghost fungus contains a light-emitting substance called luciferin (lucifer meaning light-bringing). In the presence of oxygen, luciferin is oxidised by an enzyme called luciferase. As a result of this chemical reaction, energy is released as a greenish light.”

https://theconversation.com/the-glowing-ghost-mushroom-looks-like-it-comes-from-a-fungal-netherworld-111607

So they must be glowing all the time then, you just can’t see it in daylight.

fsm has said that he wants to try photographing them in the daytime to capture that.

A good article on glow-in-the-dark stuff-
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/bioluminescence/

Thanks, I’ll have a look at that article later. I’m off to the supermarket before it gets busy. I’ve never been much into crowds.

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

Love your pics of the fungi invasion, MV!
The further away pics look like someone emptied out a bean bag

ruby said:

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

Love your pics of the fungi invasion, MV!
The further away pics look like someone emptied out a bean bag

So it’s possible that we’ve been eating too much introduced exotic grass again but we’re completely stumped as to where this 50 cent piece is.

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

Michael V said:

Around midday today, inhabiting the remnants of a weeping fig I cut down because its roots were invading next door’s sewer pipes. This is the second massive flush of sporocarps. One image has a 50 cent piece for scale. (Some of the branches have had a couple of flushes of thin reddish-black bracket fungi sporocarps, probably the edible Auricularia polytricha, found in this region, which if I see again, I’ll photograph):

Love your pics of the fungi invasion, MV!
The further away pics look like someone emptied out a bean bag

So it’s possible that we’ve been eating too much introduced exotic grass again but we’re completely stumped as to where this 50 cent piece is.

It got edited out by someone. If you go to my original post, you’ll see it.

Date: 23/04/2023 15:57:52
From: Michael V
ID: 2022637
Subject: re: Magical mushrooms

Michael V said:

SCIENCE said:

ruby said:

Love your pics of the fungi invasion, MV!
The further away pics look like someone emptied out a bean bag

So it’s possible that we’ve been eating too much introduced exotic grass again but we’re completely stumped as to where this 50 cent piece is.

It got edited out by someone. If you go to my original post, you’ll see it.

Date: 23/04/2023 15:57:52
From: Michael V
ID: 2022637
Subject: re: Magical mushrooms

Ah that’ll learn us to skip posts, cheers.

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

SCIENCE said:

So it’s possible that we’ve been eating too much introduced exotic grass again but we’re completely stumped as to where this 50 cent piece is.

It got edited out by someone. If you go to my original post, you’ll see it.

Date: 23/04/2023 15:57:52
From: Michael V
ID: 2022637
Subject: re: Magical mushrooms

Ah that’ll learn us to skip posts, cheers.

Sorry, I took a few pics out! Worth looking at all the pictures on the original post.

Here, have another ghost fungi picture.
This was one picture, all on the one tree trunk. Most of these were gone on our second visit. I suspect more will be gone now, it is very close to a popular holiday place

so pretty

fsm said:

Yesterday we did a night bushwalk to find these ghost fungi (Omphalotus nidiformis). These mushrooms are bioluminescent, glowing gently in the dark. They appear at a few different locations here along the coast.

Iontach! Wow!

“Apparently causing quite a stir.”: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-29/glowing-mushrooms-fascinate-photographers-on-nsw-south-coast/102264972

roughbarked said:

Apparently causing quite a stir.

edited to fix link.

roughbarked said:

“Apparently causing quite a stir.”: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-29/glowing-mushrooms-fascinate-photographers-on-nsw-south-coast/102264972

I’m not sure why you would put the blue light on them. Their natural green is very beautiful.

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

“Apparently causing quite a stir.”: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-29/glowing-mushrooms-fascinate-photographers-on-nsw-south-coast/102264972

I’m not sure why you would put the blue light on them. Their natural green is very beautiful.

Mr Larkin held a blue light in front of the mushroom as a contrast to the green to try to best illustrate the texture.

It did add a contrast but it does not seem to have enhanced the green light any.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

roughbarked said:

“Apparently causing quite a stir.”: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-29/glowing-mushrooms-fascinate-photographers-on-nsw-south-coast/102264972

I’m not sure why you would put the blue light on them. Their natural green is very beautiful.

Mr Larkin held a blue light in front of the mushroom as a contrast to the green to try to best illustrate the texture.

It did add a contrast but it does not seem to have enhanced the green light any.

This one of his photos is far better, in my view. Although it doesn’t really tell you that they only look like that with a long exposure.

There are 2,847 observations of ghost fungus on iNaturalist for Australia. Most of them are daytime photos, but there are some night ones. Curiously, at least one of the night time ones is not a green glow, but a white glow.

If you want to scroll through the observations, they are at:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6744&taxon_id=155166

Listed from newest to oldest.

Using a long exposure in order to capture the glow, he has managed to photograph a few clusters of ghost mushrooms — a species of bioluminescent fungi — growing in Bournda National Park, north of Tura Beach.

roughbarked said:

Using a long exposure in order to capture the glow, he has managed to photograph a few clusters of ghost mushrooms — a species of bioluminescent fungi — growing in Bournda National Park, north of Tura Beach.

Yes, I saw it in the text. But I rather doubt the general public actually take that in, particularly for a photo in which you can see the tree. And you can see the glow with the naked eye, but it’s nowhere near as impressive.

ghost mushrooms mistaken for oyster mushrooms

These are greenish aqua in the daylight.