A Quirk of Fate (by Taylor Lockwood)

After taking my camera and passion for bioluminescent mushrooms around the world, I was pleased to find some "glowers" in my little town of Mount Dora, Florida. I had only seen them once before so an uncommon bloom of these "Jill o' Lanterns" (Omphalotus subilludens) got me right into gear.

These are the cousins to the "Jack o' Lanterns" (Omphalotus illudens) known up and down the east coast and into parts west. According to Jim Kimbrough's book on Florida mushrooms, it wasn't known to be bioluminescent.
I had found some two years ago and I did document the dim greenish glow and, I believe, they were the first such photos of O. subilludens.

This time I was ready with a plan.

I've been waiting and looking for them for months and as soon as I found some, I drove to Orlando (the big city) and rented a camera top-rated for its low-light capabilities. The result was that I got some good photos from a very difficult-to-photograph Spirits of the Forest mushroom.

And then two days later:

As fate would have it, I found another kind -- two different species within the four days of my rental period. These might be the only two that glow and grow here.

The second group I found was so dim I only noticed them in my peripheral vision -- long after my eyes had adjusted to total darkness. Looking at them directly, it was hard to tell if they glowed at all. However, the bigger-better-faster camera saw it well enough to capture a passable image.

This second set was Panellus pusillus, a tropical mushroom found occasionally in Florida.

Taylor F. Lockwood
http://www.mushroom.pro
http://www.taylorlockwood.com