By Carina Magyar in Fungi — Apr 27, 2023

VIII: Mushroom

The eerie ability of some mushrooms to glow.

Culinary mushrooms ready for the aromatics. Photo by Kiwihug / Unsplash

Good morning. Today is octidi, the 8th of Floréal, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le champignon, a button-shaped fungus that absorbs flavor when cooked.

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Like ferns, this huge kingdom of living beings seems relegated to a single day, although there are other fungi lurking on the calendar. The word champignon is traditionally associated with toadstool-shaped mushrooms (and toadstools), even though it's also a generic word for all the fruiting fungi in the forest. Indeed, most people will assume you're talking about edible mushrooms from the grocery store unless you specify something else psychedelic, gourmet, deadly, or just plain weird. So let's talk about all those...

The hottest mushroom on the viral content circuit is Cordyceps, the parasitic fungus that is the basis of the apocalypse in the HBO show (and hit video game series) "The Last of Us." While it's certainly creepy the way some Cordyceps species will occupy and drive around an insect body, this fungus isn't what most people would consider a mushroom.

Within the subset of recognizable mushroom species, the creepiest behavior – once you get past those fungus that grow gross-looking parts or happen to resemble dead fingers and toes – is the ability to glow in the dark.

VIII: Mushroom

VII: Lily-of-the-valley

IX: Hyacinth

VII: Lily-of-the-valley

IX: Hyacinth

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