''Neonothopanus gardneri'', locally known as flor de coco, is a

bioluminescent 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 Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including ...

fungus native to

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

Piauí Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66&n ...

and

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...

states in Brazil. The fungus was first discovered in 1839 by the English botanist George Gardner, after he came across some youths playing with glowing material in the streets of Villa de Natividade in

state in Brazil. Initially thinking it was a firefly, he then discovered it was a mushroom—known as ''Flor de Coco'' locally—that was common locally and found on decaying palm leaves. Gardner sought to call it ''Agaricus phosphorescens''. However, his colleague

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated at R ...

opined that the attribute was not unique, and hence described it with the specific name ''A. gardneri''. Gardner thought it resembled members of the genus ''

Pleurotus ''Pleurotus'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes one of the most widely eaten mushrooms, '' P. ostreatus''. Species of ''Pleurotus'' may be called oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms, and are some of the most commonly cultivated edib ...

'' in structure, while Berkeley felt it was more akin to the genus ''

Panus ''Panus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. Species * (Senthil. & S.K.Singh) Senthil. (2015) *'' Panus bacillisporus'' Kauffman (1930) *'' Panus bartlettii'' Massee (1907) *'' Panus biersianus'' Har. & Pat. (1914) *'' Panus brunnei ...

'' but conceded spores were necessary for further classification. It was rediscovered in February 2005 by scientists Patricia Izar, Elisabetta Visalberghi and Dorothy Fragaszy, with the aid of Marino Gomes de Oliveira. It is larger and brighter than other known bioluminescent fungi. Marina Capelari and colleagues investigated its relationships by analysing it and close relatives genetically, and found that it was the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to '' Neonothopanus nambi'' rather than members of the genus ''

Omphalotus ''Omphalotus'' is a genus of basidiomycete mushroom, in the family Marasmiaceae, formally circumscribed by Victor Fayod in 1889. Members have the traditional cap and stem structure. They are saprobic, and fruit in clumps on the ground, adjace ...

'' and placed it in the genus ''

Neonothopanus ''Neonothopanus'' is a genus of three species of fungi in the agaric family Marasmiaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1999. The type species '' N. nambi'' is found in Australia, South America, Central America, and Malaysia, while '' N.&nb ...

''. The fleshy yellow mushrooms have darker

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

in the centre fading to paler yellow or cream at the margins. Measuring wide, the cap is initially convex with a central umbo before becoming flat or even funnel-shaped with age. The

decurrent ''Decurrent'' (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petio ...

and widely spaced gills are the same colour as the cap. The fibrous stipe is long by wide. The cap and gills glow with a green light at night, more strongly than most other bioluminescent fungi. ''Neonothopanus gardneri'' grows at the base of palm trees, including the pindoba palm (''

Attalea humilis Attalea may refer to : * ''Attalea'' (plant), a genus of palms **List of Attalea species * Attalea in Lydia Attalea or Attaleia ( grc, Ἀττάλεια) was a Roman city of ancient Lydia, former diocese and is presently a Latin Catholic titula ...

''), piaçava ('' A. funifera''), and babaçu ('' A. speciosa'').

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6993532 Marasmiaceae Bioluminescent fungi Fungi described in 1840 Fungi of Brazil

See also

References