Researcher Luis F. Mendes gazes up at a tree sporting ghostlike fungi in the forests south of Sco Paulo, Brazil.

Since 2002 several new species of glowing mushrooms have been found in the region, "some of the last remaining old-growth Atlantic forest habitat south of the city of Sco Paulo," San Francisco State's Desjardin said.

While searching for known glowing fungi in the forest, the University of Sco Paulo's Stevani came across an unusual specimen. He sent it to Desjardin, who identified it as Gerronema viridilucens, a species new to science and the first fungi from the genus Gerronema known to glow.

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