Living Lanterns: Discovering Bioluminescent Mushrooms in Texas
Finding the Southern Jack-o-Lantern at Pedernales Falls State Park.
Years had passed since I last set foot in Texas. Having called New Zealand home, I felt a bit of anxiety at the thought of leaving the native bush that had become a big part of my life.
Curious about the mushroom scene in Austin, I checked iNaturalist and put together a list of species to search for. At the top was Omphalotus subilludens, a mushroom I managed to find amidst an arid November landscape. Halloween had come and gone, but the orange glow of the Jack-o-lantern mushrooms were still popping up.
Omphalotus subilludens
My family and I went to Pedernales Falls, a place that brought back fond memories of childhood escapes to the hill country. This time, however, I was consumed with the pursuit of the Southern Jack-o-lantern, guided by a single iNaturalist observation.
As hours passed and hope waned, I was on the verge of abandoning my quest. Yet, as we neared the parking lot, a flash of orange caught my eye. I rushed toward a Texas Cedar and found a solitary Omphalotus subilludens. Success! There's an uncanny magic in the way a species can appear before us, as if summoned by our thoughts and desires.
The image above captures the bioluminescence of this specie’s gills, a glowing reminder of nature's wonders and the enchanting allure of the fungi that populate our world.