During the day, these mushrooms appear innocuous. In the photo below, ghost fungus, the mushroom species Omphalotus nidiformis is decomposing a tree stump. This species occurs across the wet parts of Australia.
But at night, the story is different.
The first time I noticed the mushroom was when I was night walking on a moonless night and saw them glowing green amongst the undergrowth. I took a sample and they were bright enough to be used to read in the dark.
Why do they do that?
Aristotle first wrote about glowing fungi but he probably didn’t know why.
Scientists have suggested various theories as to why they glow, including to attract insects and other animals which may spread the spores, or perhaps to deter animals from eating them before they had a chance to release their spores. Either way, they’re pretty cool.
Pics===========
[1] Mycena chlorophos at Hachijojima botanical park via Wikipedia commons
[2] Author’s photo
[3] Omphalotus nidiformis showing bioluminescence - 30 sec at ISO 1600; Cas Liber via Wikipedia commons