GardensNature

Rare species of ghost mushrooms glow in the plantations of South Australia's southeast region after heavy rain

Rare species of ghost mushrooms glow in the plantations of South Australia's southeast region after heavy rain
Ghost mushrooms, bioluminscent fungus that grew on decaying plant material, appeared in the plantations of South Australia's southeast after heavy rain.
Images by Ockert Le Roux

A rare and unique bioluminescent fungi species of ghost mushrooms turned on one of their occasional eerie displays in 2022 amid pine plantations about 16 kilometres from Mount Gambier at Glencoe on South Australia’s southeast Limestone Coast.

The bioluminescent fan-shaped omphalotus nidiformis, only found in South Australia and Tasmania, flourished after heavy rainfall in the Ghost Mushroom Lane created for visitors in ForestrySA company's pine plantation.

The mushrooms were first found about six years previously when a local photographer was out for some night-time shooting and stumbled upon a patch of glowing mushrooms. The ghost mushroom species thrives on decaying plant material. To the naked eye, the mushrooms emitted a soft white glow at night they gave off a vibrant green glow. The glow was caused by a chemical reaction when enzymes in the mushrooms react with oxygen in the air.

The mushrooms could pop up anywhere in the plantation after rain.  ForestrySA staff rearranged trails so that visitors had the best opportunity to see where the mushrooms were glowing.

Walk the Limestone Coast owner Natasha Dawson said that viewing the mushrooms was a unique experience: "It's such a fully immersive experience [in] the smell of the forest, the dampness of the forest, rugging up in winter gear, going on an adventure with your friends or your family. Just simply being in the forest at night and watching these illuminating mushrooms just light up the darkness around you (is an experience)."

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