Omphalotus olearius
The Jack O'Lantern is an
orange or orangish-yellow mushroom
with a cap
up to eight inches wide. Its stalk
can grow also grow eight inches tall. Jack O'Lanterns grow in
large clusters on the base of live trees, on old stumps, or
on buried roots. Like all mushrooms, the
part you see (cap and stem) is just part of the fungus. Most
of the fungus is a large network of threads underground or
under bark
of a tree. The mushroom part is a lot like the flower on a
plant. Jack O'Lanterns "bloom" from July to
November. The gills
of a mushroom are the feathery things under the cap. The
Jack O'Lantern has gills that run partway down the stalk.
The gills of this mushroom also glow in the dark. This type
of light, called "bioluminescence," causes a greenish glow
at night. The way fungi make more
fungi is by producing spores.
Spores are the equivalent of seeds with flowers. A fungus
first grows mushrooms, then spores come out of the gills.
The spores of a Jack O'Lantern are cream-colored. The spores
of a mushroom are another way you can tell apart different
species of mushrooms that look alike. Jack O'Lanterns are
poisonous
to humans, but are eaten by fungus eaters such as Eastern
Box Turtles and Eastern Gray Squirrels. They are found on
the base of deciduous
(leaves die in Fall) trees, especially oaks.
