sylvanshine

• If the ancient gymnosperm forests had sylvanshine, it's too bad none of the animals was brainy enough to contemplate its beauty. —  F ;SF; - vol 089 issue 06 - December 1995
• It's possible that these forests 'were spectacularly beautiful, especially when moonlight shone brightly from dew-covered trees in the phenomenon of retroreflection--light bouncing back instead of being widely scattered (we use retroreflection when making highway safety markers Alistair B. Fraser named the forest retroreflection "sylvanshine," and found that it's more likely to come from trees (like blue spruce and hemlock) which have an intrinsically waxy surface or one of seasonal "bloom" caused by a coating of microorganisms. —  F ;SF; - vol 089 issue 06 - December 1995

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