Friends who have seen the movie Avatar must be obsessed with glowing plants, such as the dreamlike Avatar Forest. To tell you a secret, there is such a wonderful forest in South Australia, when night falls, the forest is full of small mushrooms that glow! It's the Ghost Mushroom Trail, (Ghost Mushroom Lane).
This magical place is only familiar to the locals, tourists know little about it, and it is actually hidden in the forest near the famous Blue Lake (The Blue Lake). Second largest city from South Australia: Glenco (Glencoe)., just a 25-minute drive from Mount Ganbier (Mount Gambier)
These phantom mushrooms of Glencoe are called Omphalotus Nidiformis..
There are about 75 known nocturnal fungi in the world, and Omphalotus Nidiformis is the only luminous mushroom native to Australia, usually grown on rotting plants, such as pine stump. After a fall rain, these glowing mushrooms will continue to appear in the forest and become so at night!
Because of the rainy winter in South Australia, they can be seen basically throughout the winter. The largest diameter of these mushrooms can reach 20 centimeters wide.
Scottish naturalist James Drummond, a Scottish naturalist from Perth, first officially recorded the presence of ghost mushrooms in Australia in 1842.
Early settlers and aborigines knew the mushrooms well before James Drummond recorded them. The aborigines thought the mushrooms were falling stars in the sky. Some aboriginal tribes see falling stars as evil's magic, and many revere them, calling ghost mushrooms "Chinga"-meaning "spirit" for the soul.
Glencoe's Ghost Mushroom Lane is open to visitors free of charge from May to July every year. From May 1 this year, you can go on an expedition to Ghost Mushroom Lane!
Forest conservator Troy Horn says fungal enzymes on the surface of the phantom mushroom react with oxygen, causing it to emit soft green light at night. The brightness of the light can even be enough for you to read!
However, this mushroom is also slightly toxic, if eaten can cause cramps and vomiting, accidental contact is OK.
Last year, more than 18500 people visited Ghost Mushroom Lane.
Local photographer and nature enthusiast Ockert le Roux shot this amazing photo.
Mr. Horn came here with his daughter, and he led the children to confirm the location of the mushrooms in the early hours of the day, and forest managers were sweet enough to mark them so that even when it was dark, it was easy to find where the mushrooms were.
When it was dark, they followed the markings of the day, found the mushrooms, and then turned off the flashlights, and the magic happened and the mushrooms began to shine!
"We stood in the middle of the woods and looked around," he said. "there were glowing mushrooms on every stump. You can see the yellowish green in the photo, and the children yell in surprise. "
But photographing phantom mushrooms in a cold, dark forest is not easy., Ghost Mushroom Lane's website also gives a thoughtful guide on how to shoot ghost mushrooms at night, https://www.forestrysa.com.au/ghostmushrooms/,. Sentimental reminder: may to July, the night temperature is low, should pay attention to keep warm.
