Lycopodium powder

The spores of the Lycopodium plant, called Lycopodium powder, or, often, dragon's breath, can be used in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to), naturopathic medicine (to stimulate an immune response), in the production of fireworks, to simulate lightning, and for magic.

Lycopodium powder can also be used in stage magic. A small amount of fine lycopodium powder can be sprinkled on a small spark or flame to produce a huge fireball that will burn and then disappear as quickly as it came.

Take a piece of flash paper (nitro-cellulose), a finger flash, or finger spark, and fill the finger flash with lycopodium and flash paper, and you can create fireballs to amaze your audience. (Most people jump back in a very satisfying way).

Coloured fireballs can be achieved easily:

Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate dissolved in water, mixed with the Lycopodium powder, and then dried, will create a green flame when ignited.

Potassium Nitrate dissolved in water, mixed with the Lycopodium powder, and then dried, will create a very blood red flame.

If you ever happen upon some Lycopodium powder, please keep in mind that the ball of flame produced in this effect is incredibly hot.

If I remember correctly, this is also the stuff that Mr. Wizard used to do a different kind of magic. By coating the surface of a fishtank full of water with lycopodium powder, one could reach into the fishtank, pick up an object, and remove one's hand from the water while remaining entirely dry, however coated in spores.

A pretty neat trick that really impressed me when I was 9.

Lycopodium powder is an extremely lightweight substance of a light yellow color. It is harvested from a club moss of the scientific name Lycopodium clavatum, also known as Stag's Horn club moss, that grows in northern United States. It is smooth to the touch, and of course an allergen, so if you are prone to allergic attacks of varied sorts, stay away. The powder is relatively inexpensive, and even a weight as small an an ounce will fill more than a half cup volume measure. When blown or sprinkled into a flame, it erupts instantaneously into a hot, bright, yellow ball of fire. This is a controlled example of what happens in grain elevator explosions where enough surface area is exposed so that the maximum amount of oxygen will be available in the combustion process. The smell of the aftermath is similar to, well, not much that I am aware of. It is like a combination of mushrooms and burnt protein, but that is by no means a definitive truth. Lycopodium powder can be obtained through various online suppliers at a low price. It is not explosive as a powder, only when it is dispersed in the air.