Raccoon Creek

Thistle.

The Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve is pretty amazing. We visited recently during the day to see their late summer wildflowers on their two small meadows. The wildflower diversity was not as impressive as the Jennings prairie, but still delightful.

Wingstem.

We also visited the Wildflower Reserve on a special guided nighttime hunt for bioluminescent fungi. Photography conditions were less than ideal, and we were with a large group we didn't want to keep waiting, so I didn't attempt to take photos. That was a really neat event! First, Environmental Education specialist Shane Miller gave us a brief introduction to the world of glowing fungi. While there are around 99,000 identified species of fungi, there are only around 77 that bioluminesce. Pennsylvania is home to three. Under the right conditions, they will glow softly day and night, but the glow is only subtly visible at night. No one knows why, but there are theories. Some believe it's just an accidental result of the complex chemical processes involved in breaking down whatever the fungi is feeding on. Many insects are attracted to light at night, so perhaps it's a way of attracting them so that they may unwittingly carry away spores to new locations. Or maybe it began as an accidental process that conferred an evolutionary advantage by helping disperse spores. Who knows? But most people agree they are mysteriously beautiful.

Bioluminescent fungi are not easy to find. Shane explained that all three like deciduous wood: the jack-o'-lantern mushrooms prefer dead wood, honey mushrooms like wood both alive and dead, and oyster mushrooms prefer twigs. Temperatures need to be between 70º and 80ºF for about a week before they will noticeably glow, and it can't be too dry. Conditions were perfect on the night of our walk, because it had been hot for a while and had recently rained. Shane had identified a likely spot, and we carefully walked there in the dark. Then we set up lawn chairs and waited patiently for about 20 minutes for our eyes to fully adjust so that we might detect their faint glow. Eventually, we found tiny bitter oyster mushrooms as well as a little foxfire (bioluminescent mycelium, the body from which mushrooms grow). We also saw lots of slowly blinking glow worms, two possums, a mouse, some tiny American toads and a ring necked snake going about their business in the dark to the music of katydids, crickets and toads. Magic was definitely in the air!

Ironweed.

Thistle.

Sweet Joe-pye weed.

Morning glory.

Wingstem.

Wild sweet William.

Wild bergamot.

Jewelweed.

Tall bellflower.