bioluminescent timber

[forrestdweller]

i went for a short after-work walk at dawn today when some objects at my feet caught my attention. at first i thought it was some aluminium garbage reflecting the light [i did not use a torch] but it was too dark for that... . so i bent down to see what it was and found it was some pieces of timber- for a moment i believed it was just the light colour on some fresh-broken surface, but it was too dark for that to show that much contrast so i took one piece with me. it got completely dark as i continued my walk but the glow remained- in fact it faintly illuminated my hand[ comparable to the glowing ends of a compass needle]. after returning to my accomodation i inspected it in light, but it just looks like an ordinary piece of timber- sadly my camera was not able to get a proper shot of it *in action*.... . my guess it*s caused by a funghus... .

there are some mentionings in literature [ mark twains huck finn comes to my mind] but it*s the first time i encountered it....
has anyone else come accross this phenomenon while being *out bush*? and how common is it?

 

[bob_the_baker]

At Bushmoot 2014 I found a piece of wood that had a very faint bioluminescence. Never seen it before or since

 

[crosslandkelly]

Google "Foxfire".

 

[GadgetUK437]

Had a few glowing logs, on my woodpile a few years back, they were quite crumbly and veined with fungal growth.

--
Gadget.

 

[woodsorrel]

forrestdweller, I rarely see bioluminescence in my area except in the ocean, where it is common.

But as a regular night activity around camp, I take short hikes with a good UV flashlight. A lot of the lichens and a few of the insects in my area flouresce under UV. It's a treat to find a millipede, centipede, scorpion, or lichen that puts on a show.

- Woodsorrel

 

[John Fenna]

I have seen wood glowing a pale blue-ish colour in one of the woods I camp in - I find it beautiful

 

[Robson Valley]

I've seen it here in rotten birch stumps. Pale green. Has to be REALLY dark. Apparently, quite a variety of fungi, according to the Wikipedia article.

 

[nuggets]

fukushima drift wood ?? perhaps !!

 

[Robson Valley]

No kidding nuggets!
What with all the crap delivered to the PacNW coast on the Japan Current, we figured for sure that we
would get things that glowed in the dark. Been a while now. There has been a small but measurable increase
in seawater radioactivity but no reactor debris.

The neatest thing we did get was a great big motocycle, cast into a huge block of foam.
Encrusted with barnacles and mussels, the guy didn't want it back.

 

[sunndog]

Why don't i ever find motorbikes washed up on the shore

Did the foam protect it?

 

[Robson Valley]

sunndog: not at all. Maybe a year in seawater plus all the pairs of different metals (galvanic corrosion) and the thing was a wreck.
We all sort of wondered why the bike was packed that way in the first place = cleaning all that off a new bike would have been like
sorting out fly specks in black pepper.

At least bioluminescence is an honest facet of the environment.

 

[sunndog]

what a shame. how cool would it be watching some folks cutting the giant block in half with all its barnacles and seaweed and a shiney new bike revealed

 

[OldJimbo]

But as a regular night activity around camp, I take short hikes with a good UV flashlight. A lot of the lichens and a few of the insects in my area flouresce under UV. It's a treat to find a millipede, centipede, scorpion, or lichen that puts on a show.

I've been thinking about getting one of those!
While lots of fungi glow in the dark, it has to be really dark to see it. Here if it's dark then I like to be by a nice big fire or walking home with a big flashlight so I'm not going to notice.

 

[forrestdweller]

fukushima drift wood ?? perhaps !!

i somehow doubt that a piece of wood could drift upstream- especially considering the rivers here run underground for miles and have several waterfalls
further downstream- up to an altitude of 850m above sea level....

 

[forrestdweller]

Google "Foxfire".

i just did-seems my theory about funghi being responsible was correct.... [it even mentions mark twain in the article ] . i was aware of the phenomenon before -it*s just the first time i encountered it on land. i saw it- like woodsorrel- in the ocean or rivers under influence of tides [especially around darwin] when nightfishing/crabbing....
my light came pale green: not strong enough for reading/seeing what i do but still enough power to cast a faint light onto my hand...