Foxfire (bioluminescence)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Foxfire is the term for the bioluminescence created by a fungus that can grow on decaying wood in the right conditions. It is often attributed to members of the genus Armillaria, though others are reported, and as many as 40 individual species have been identified. On the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin it was used for light in the Turtle, an early submarine. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer use foxfire as a source of light in order to dig a tunnel. It is found mostly in the Dismal Swamp of North Carolina.

[edit] External links

• Some legends about foxfire
• Foxfire
• Foxfire: Bioluminescence in the Forest and the pdf file by Dr. Kim D. Coder, University of Georgia 8/99