Stunning Forest Light Mushrooms : Are Among The One Hundred Fungi Species That Are Bioluminescent. They Are Usually Found In Asia

Of about 120,000 described fungi species (out of an estimated 2.2 to 3.8 million), around 100 are known to be bioluminescent or capable of emitting light. They have been found mainly in temperate and tropical regions in Europe, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia, among others.

Only a few species of glowing fungi have been reported from India. Two have been reported from the Western Ghats, one in the Eastern Ghats, and one in the state of Kerala, among others. Glowing fungi have also been spotted in the forests of Maharashtra and Goa (part of the Western Ghats) but they have not been scientifically reported. Karunarathna believes the actual number of bioluminescent fungi in India should be higher.

“The vast area in India is also not explored for any group of fungi and in particular macrofungi”, which may have medicinal properties, said Pradeep. “We have so far documented only ca. 1900 species of mushroom-forming fungi from India which is ridiculously small when compared with the area of our country!” A lack of experts and funds are the main obstacles, he explained.

Bioluminescent fungi typically sprout on decaying wood and are capable of digesting lignin in plant debris. Most of the bioluminescent fungi belong to a genus called Mycena (bonnet mushrooms). A recent yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study that sequenced the genomes of five Mycena species, four of which are bioluminescent, showed that bioluminescence evolved in the common ancestor of Mycena and another marasmoid clade and originated around 160 million years ago in the late Jurassic period.