Bioluminescence does not only occur in many creatures of the deep sea but also, though less commonly, in land animals and plants. Diverse fungi, most of them belonging to the genus Mycena, also display bioluminescence; however, little is yet known about the purpose of their nightly glowing. 

When we say "fungi", most of us think of portobellos, magic mushrooms, mold, or maybe skin diseases. Paul Stamets, leading expert in the mushroom world, calls that a great obstacle. Stamets is a visionary, and what he envisions is a world where people finally throw overboard their mycophobia and enter a symbiosis with Eumycota, the exponents of the Fungi Kingdom which houses an estimated number of 1.5 million species, and is, of all other kingdoms, closest to our own.

They look like vaginas, cute butts, or penises: floral sex organs very often remind us of our own reproduction apparatus and therefore seem awkwardly appealing. But we are not the only ones intrigued by their fancy style: the pollen of many species, like that of grasses, cereal crops and trees are wind-disseminated, but most species use insects, birds, even us humans to distribute their pollen. The strategies they thereby employ are often fascinating, and the adaptions that have evolved in flowers as well as the diverse pollinators are astounding.

They’re vicious, and will attack any other ant. They’re ubiquitous, having formed a globe-spanning super-colony. And they have destructive friends, such as citrus-eating aphids. They are the Argentine super ants (Linepithema humile), and they’ve taken over most of California since their introduction in 1907.