I recently had an enquiry from someone who noticed during the middle of the night that their pile of split firewood was emitting a faint glow. What could cause this?!
Apparently there are fungi that grow in rotting wood that can emit light through luminescence. The phenomenon is sometimes called “foxfire”. I’ve never noticed this myself, but a colleague who is a mycologist (expert on fungi) assures me it does occur in New Zealand. Apparently the light is very faint, and your eyes have to be well-adjusted to the dark.
If anyone has seen foxfire themselves, I’m interested to know more, particularly within a New Zealand setting; for instance, what kind of conditions and what kinds of wood are particularly conducive?
