--- title: "Chinese Scientists Create Bright, Multi-Colored Glowing Plants" description: "Chinese scientists have developed beautiful, sun-charged succulents that store light and glow it back at you for hours in a variety of colors." date: "2025-09-05" modified: "2025-09-05" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/chinese-scientists-bright-glowing-plants" categories: - "Agriculture" - "Genetics" - "Health & Medicine" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "bioluminescence" - "glowing plants" - "nanoparticles" - "succulents" --- # Chinese Scientists Create Bright, Multi-Colored Glowing Plants ![Chinese scientists have developed beautiful, sun-charged succulents that store light and glow it back at you for hours in a variety of colors.]() *\Image: Liu et al.\* Never to be outshone — literally, in this case — Chinese scientists have one-upped American researchers and their [bioluminescent petunias]() with what they're calling world's first multi-colored glowing plants. As the journal [*Nature* reports](), this glow-in-the-dark succulent hails from the South China Agricultural University (SCAU) in Guangzhou, where materials researchers have developed a technology that recharges the plants via sunlight and makes them as bright as a night-light and with many of the colors of the rainbow, sometimes even in the same plant. Biologist Shuting Liu, one of the SCAU researchers behind these radiant plants and the first author of a [new paper]() on them in the journal *Matter*, likened the succulents' glow to the futuristic bioluminescence seen in a particular science fiction franchise. "Picture the world of Avatar, where glowing plants light up an entire ecosystem," Liu said in a [statement](). "We wanted to make that vision possible using materials we already work with in the lab. Imagine glowing trees replacing streetlights." Last year, the beautiful "[Firefly Petunia]()" from the American startup Light Bio delighted consumers as they rushed to purchase the gene-hacked greenery for just $29 in pre-orders, eventually skyrocketing it onto [*Time* magazine's best inventions of 2024]() list. As [*NPR* reported]() last year, the petunias' creator, biologist Keith Wood, worked for almost 40 years to make such beautiful and bright herbage, eventually landing on genes isolated from glowing mushrooms to make it happen. Unlike that gorgeous flowering friend, *Nature* noted that Chinese team behind the multi-colored succulents used something far more commonplace than genes from luminous fungi: nanoparticles similar to those that have made [hippie-dippie blacklight posters luminesce]() in so many college dorm rooms for [half a century now](). (They're also found in [glow-in-the-dark paints and toys](), and used for [imaging tracing in lab rodents]().) Injected directly into each of the succulents' leaves, the nanoparticles in question — phosphor particles made of strontium and aluminum, plus other heavy metals, the *Nature* article noted — manage to store light energy, and then spit it back out over the course of several hours. Since the succulents are "charged" by sunlight, they have to be left out regularly to attain that energy before producing their brilliant "afterglow." Still, the Guangzhou based team managed to make each plant emit blue, green, violet, red, and white for up to 120 minutes after sufficient sunlight charging. As the image below shows, the plants continued to glow (and darken) at the same intensity for the entire 10-day duration of the study. ![Two identical rows showing a bioluminescent succulent, developed by researchers at the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, as its stored sunlight dissipates over two hours. On the left, the chart indicates that the photos were taken on day 0 and day 10 of the experiment, and on the Y-axis, six time increments going from nil to 120 minutes shows how the plants dim over a period of two hours. Image via South China Agricultural University/Matter journal. ]() The SCAU researchers chose the *Echevaria* succulent genus because, unlike plants with thinner, dryer leaves that emitted a patchier glow, the succulents lit up more uniformly. Their favorite type of succulent, the *Nature* paper notes, is the "Mebina" variety, a common houseplant that grows thick, dense leaves in a rosette pattern that radiates from its center. As proof of concept, Liu and her team made a wall of glowing Mebina that were bright enough to read a book. "I just find it incredible that an entirely human-made, micro-scale material can come together so seamlessly with the natural structure of a plant," the researcher said in the statement. "The way they integrate is almost magical. It creates a special kind of functionality." Wood, the bioluminescent plant pioneer, told *Nature* that it's still somewhat unclear to him how exactly such intense chemicals might affect the plants' overall health. He added as a word of warning that they could be toxic if ingested, making the need for additional safety testing paramount. Though he doesn't think they'll be acting as a bio-streetlamps any time soon, Wood nevertheless expressed approval of the SCAU project. "We’re making something fun, enjoyable, magical," he told *Nature.* **More on magic plants:** [*Evidence Grows That Tripping on Shrooms Might Increase Your Lifespan*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()