foxfire

"Light emission from wood is not rare.... Many wood-inhabiting fungi emit light or 'fluoresce'... little scientific information is available, but the effect can last for up to 10 days." -- Mr. Fixit

Foxfire is an organization founded in 1966 with the mission of teaching high school students an appreciation of the local artisans of their native Appalachia.

At least 11 books have been published in the Foxfire series covering topics as diverse as toys, recipes, "hog dressing", chair making, boarding houses, gourd art, hunting, fishing, use of wild plants, faith healing, planting by the signs, burial, midwifery, fiddle making, berry buckets, sassafras tea, corn sucking, animal care, dulcimers, hide tanning, ginseng, quilting, log cabins, home cures, water systems, logging, wood carving and more, much more.

The books combine stories about the actual people and practical instruciton in the various arts, crafts and ways of living.

The term "foxfire", in addition to referring to phosphorescent fungi, can refer to what's also known as faerie fire or ignis fatuus - that is, wispy motes of flame or flame-like light. The intended allusion is either to the purported magical and tricky nature of foxes or possibly from "faux fire", that is, something that appears to be fire but isn't.