Two Truths, One Lie

By MDC | September 1, 2025
From Xplor: September/October 2025
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Which fascinating fact is actually a fib?

 

  1. These mushrooms are often found growing in clumps on rotten pumpkins, which is where the name “jack-o’-lantern mushroom” comes from.
  2. A jack-o’-lantern mushroom’s gills — the thin ridges on the underside of the cap — glow in the dark with a ghostly green light.
  3. Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms are poisonous. Although eating one isn’t usually lethal, it will make you very sick for several days.
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#1 (Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms grow on wood or buried wood, not pumpkins.)

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This Issue's Staff

Artist – Matt Byrde
Photographer – Noppadol Paothong
Photographer – David Stonner
Designer – Marci Porter
Art Director – Ben Nickelson
Editor – Matt Seek
Subscriptions – Marcia Hale
Magazine Manager – Stephanie Thurber