Deep In The Forests Of Indiana, There's A Magical Fungus That Glows In The Dark
By Tori Jane|Published January 13, 2021
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
Some things in this world are, despite being easily explainable, so very magical. Imagine this: You’re walking through the Indiana woods at night, beneath the soft light of the moon. The denizens of the forest make sure that it’s certainly not quiet; you can hear the calls of cicadas, crickets, and other nocturnal creatures. As you walk, you notice a green glow nearby. What on earth? You approach it and realize that it’s a group of mushrooms – a bunch of glowing ones!
This isn’t science fiction or fantasy; this is a strange and beautiful little fungus with a very appropriate name.
Omphalotus illudens, more commonly known as the Jack-O-Lantern mushroom, is a common denizen of forests and wooded areas east of the Rockies.
It grows in clusters on dead or dying wood; if it appears to be coming up from the ground, chances are, there's some dead wood just below the earth's surface that these helpful little guys are helping to decompose.
They're aptly named; they're a bright fiery orange in most cases, with intricate and fascinating gills that run down the stem.
They're anywhere from two to eight inches in height, and similarly, their caps are also two to eight inches in width. At the beginning of its life, the cap is usually smooth and flat, but as the fungus gets older, the cap tends to develop a pointed appearance.
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These mushrooms are also exceptionally beautiful (and still appropriately named) for another reason: sometimes, they can be found quite literally glowing in the dark.
The gills emanate a blue-green, subtle glow that can be seen at night. This property is called bioluminescence, and it shares this ability with some species of algae, other fungi, and even some undersea creatures.
The distinction is incredibly important. Chanterelles are edible, tasty, and can be discerned by the fact that they have false gills that are not easily removed. The Jack-O-Lantern has authentic gills that can be picked off fairly easily.
Any person unfortunate enough to confuse the two and eat a Jack-O-Lantern is going to find themselves in some trouble.
The Jack-O-Lantern mushroom will not kill you, but you might wish it did should you eat it. The result of ingesting these bright-orange fungi is typically severe gastrointestinal symptoms, including very nasty cramps, stomach pains, and diarrhea. Sometimes, the sickness becomes so severe that hospitalization is required.
Left to simply be admired instead of eaten, though, the Jack-O-Lantern is a seemingly mystical little fungus that tends to begin popping up in summer and becomes most plentiful in the fall.
