Foxfire, also called fairy fire and
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
fire, is the
bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
created by some species of
fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a
luciferase
Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is usually distinguished from a photoprotein. The name was first used by Raphaël Dubois who invented the words ''luciferin'' and ''luciferase'', ...
, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with a
luciferin. The phenomenon has been known since ancient times, with its source determined in 1823.
Description
Foxfire is the
bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
created by some species of
fungi present in decaying wood. It occurs in a number of species, including ''
Panellus stipticus
''Panellus stipticus'', commonly known as the bitter oyster, the astringent panus, the luminescent panellus, or the stiptic fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, and the type species of the genus '' Panellus''. A common and w ...
'', ''
Omphalotus olearius'' and ''
Omphalotus nidiformis''. The bluish-green glow is attributed to
luciferin, which emits light after oxidation catalyzed by the enzyme
luciferase
Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is usually distinguished from a photoprotein. The name was first used by Raphaël Dubois who invented the words ''luciferin'' and ''luciferase'', ...
. Some believe that the light attracts insects to spread spores, or acts as a warning to hungry animals, like the
bright colors exhibited by some poisonous or unpalatable animal species.
Although generally very dim, in some cases foxfire is bright enough to read by.
History
The oldest recorded documentation of foxfire is from 382 B.C., by
Aristotle, whose notes refer to a light that, unlike fire, was cold to the touch. The Roman thinker
Pliny the Elder also mentioned glowing wood in olive groves.
Foxfire was used to illuminate the needles on the barometer and the compass of ''
Turtle'', an early submarine. This is commonly thought to have been suggested by
Benjamin Franklin; a reading of the correspondence from
Benjamin Gale, however, shows that Benjamin Franklin was only consulted for alternative forms of lighting when the cold temperatures rendered the foxfire inactive.
After many more literary references to foxfire by early scientists and naturalists, its cause was discovered in 1823. The glow emitted from wooden support beams in mines was examined, and it was found that the luminescence came from fungal growth.
The "fox" in ''foxfire'' may derive from the Old French word , meaning "false", rather than from the name of the animal.
[Smythe Palmer, Abram, ''The Folk and Their Word-lore: An Essay on Popular Etymologies'' (1904)] The association of foxes with such lights is widespread, however, and occurs also in
Japanese folklore.
See also
*
Aurora Borealis, called "revontulet" (literally "foxfires") in the
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
*
List of bioluminescent fungi
*
Will-o'-the-wisp
References
External links
{{Wiktionary
Foxfire: Bioluminescence in the ForestPDF file
by Dr. Kim D. Coder, University of Georgia 8/99
at Mykoweb
Bioluminescence
Bioluminescent fungi
Mycology