Foxfire

Foxfire is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. It occurs in a number of species, including Panellus stipticus, Omphalotus olearius and Omphalotus nidiformis. The bluish-green glow is attributed to luciferin, which emits light after oxidation catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. Some believe that the light attracts insects to spread spores, or acts as a warning to hungry animals, like the bright colors exhibited by some poisonous or unpalatable animal species.{{cite web|url=http://inamidst.com/lights/foxfire|title=Foxfire:Bioluminescent Fungi|publisher=inamidst.com|access-date=July 18, 2011}} Although generally very dim, in some cases foxfire is bright enough to read by.{{cite web|url=http://www.mykoweb.com/articles/BioluminescentFungi.html|title=Bioluminescent Fungi|publisher=Mykoweb|access-date=July 18, 2011}}

The oldest recorded documentation of foxfire is from 382 B.C., by Aristotle,{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=J |title=Bioluminescence: the First 3000 Years (Review) |journal=Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology |date=2008 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=194–205|doi=10.17516/1997-1389-0264 |doi-access=free }} whose notes refer to a light that, unlike fire, was cold to the touch. The Roman thinker Pliny the Elder also mentioned glowing wood in olive groves.{{cite web| publisher=Warnell School of Forest Resources| title=Foxfire: Bioluminescence in the Forest| access-date=July 18, 2011| url=http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/index.php3?docID=173| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719224836/http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/index.php3?docID=173| archive-date=July 19, 2011}}

Foxfire was used to illuminate the needles on the barometer and the compass of Turtle, an early submarine.{{cite web| publisher=Navy Department Library| title=The Submarine Turtle: Naval Documents of the Revolutionary War| access-date=May 1, 2012| url=http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/sub_turtle.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917024301/http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/sub_turtle.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=September 17, 2008}} This is commonly thought to have been suggested by Benjamin Franklin; a reading of the correspondence from Benjamin Gale, however, shows that Benjamin Franklin was only consulted for alternative forms of lighting when the cold temperatures rendered the foxfire inactive.

After many more literary references to foxfire by early scientists and naturalists, its cause was discovered in 1823. The glow emitted from wooden support beams in mines was examined, and it was found that the luminescence came from fungal growth.{{cite web| publisher=Journey Idea| title=Bioluminescent foxfire, Bioluminescence facts, Bioluminescent fungi| access-date=July 18, 2011| url=http://www.journeyidea.com/firefox-that-glows| archive-date=September 24, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924094622/http://www.journeyidea.com/firefox-that-glows| url-status=dead}}

The "fox" in foxfire may derive from the Old French word {{wikt-lang|fro|faux}}, meaning "false", rather than from the name of the animal.Smythe Palmer, Abram, The Folk and Their Word-lore: An Essay on Popular Etymologies (1904) The association of foxes with such lights is widespread, however, and occurs also in Japanese folklore in the form of kitsune-bi (狐火 lit. 'Fox's fire/flame').{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

• Aurora Borealis, called "revontulet" (literally "foxfires") in the Finnish language
• List of bioluminescent fungi
• Will-o'-the-wisp

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719224836/http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/index.php3?docID=173 Foxfire: Bioluminescence in the Forest] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130507020951/http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/service/library/for99-021/for99-021.pdf PDF file] by Dr. Kim D. Coder, University of Georgia 8/99
• [http://www.mykoweb.com/articles/BioluminescentFungi.html Bioluminescent Fungi] at Mykoweb

Category:Bioluminescence

Category:Bioluminescent fungi

Category:Mycology