Panellus stipticus is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, and the type species of the genus Panellus. A common and widely distributed species, it is found in Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North America, growing in groups or dense overlapping clusters on the logs, stumps, and trunks of deciduous trees. During the development of the fruit bodies, the mushrooms start out as tiny white knobs, which develop into fan- or kidney-shaped caps up to 3 cm (1.2 in) broad. The caps are orange- yellow to brownish, and attached to the decaying wood by short stubby stalks. The fungus was first described by French mycologist Jean Bulliard in 1783 and was given its current scientific name in 1879. It is one of several dozen bioluminescent species of fungi. Strains from eastern North America are typically bioluminescent, but those from elsewhere are not. The luminescence is localized to the edges of the gills and the junction of the gills with the stem and cap. The luminescent glow of this and other fungi inspired the term foxfire, coined by early settlers in eastern and southern North America. Modern research has probed the fungus's ability to detoxify various environmental pollutants.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panellus_stipticus

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1169:

Saladin (depicted on coin) was inaugurated as Emir of Egypt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin

1830:

The Book of Mormon, the defining sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, was first published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon

1917:

First World War: Attempting to advance into Palestine, British were defeated by Ottoman troops at the First Battle of Gaza. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Gaza

1939:

Spanish Civil War: Nationalists began their final offensive of the war, at the end of which they controlled almost the entire country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_offensive_of_the_Spanish_Civil_War

1974:

A group of peasant women in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, used their bodies to surround trees in order to prevent loggers from felling them, giving rise to the Chipko movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

immolate: 1. To kill as a sacrifice. 2. To destroy, especially by fire. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/immolate

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.   --Robert Frost https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost