Studies on Panellus stipticus

Our study on Panellus luminescence was started when the fruiting bodies of this species were found in the backyard of my residence in the early 1980s. This fungus commonly grows on dead oak trees, and we observed a rich growth of this fungus on the fallen trees in the Beebe Wood, Falmouth, MA, over a period of 3-4 years after Hurricane Bob struck the area in 1991. 

Chemiluminescent compounds and their precursors in P. stipticus. Although P. stipticus is negative in the luciferin-luciferase reaction, crude extracts of this fungus are chemiluminescent, like the luciferin obtained from Ompbalia flavida by Kuwabara and Wassink (1966). The chemiluminescence is elicited by the addition of H2O2 and Fe2+ under a mild condition of pH 5-8, and the luminescence is strongly 

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