Ask A Scientist© Botany Archive

name       Ellie
status     other
age        40s

Question - Last night I was walking along a low water creek bed with
a smooth rock base and it was around 11pm at night, in Columbus, OH. It
was a rather damp climate area, with some mud and dead leaves, lots of
trees. What absolutely fascinated me was that there were all these tiny
glowing "lights" on the ground. They were specks that were illuminating
light somehow and as you watched them, they would close up and
dissapear. What the heck were these things? My friend calls them
"foxfire" - are they plant or animal?
------------------------------------------------
possibly phosphorescent fungi

Phosphorescence
http://www.mehs.educ.state.ak.us/staff/thart/phosphorescence.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/10429/high/cool/labs/luminol.htm

Anthony R. Brach, Ph.D.
====================================================================