The personal ad (or Tinder profile) practically writes itself for this 19th-century gentleman.
According to his biography, Charles Peck was a gainfully employed mycologist who was lean and fit, an early riser accustomed to physical training who enjoyed walking and climbing in the Adirondacks and Catskills and loved fruits and vegetables. What a catch.
His dislikes included cursing, smoking and alcohol. And although a Republican, was willing to vote for the best candidate regardless of party. A Christian with a strong religious conviction, he was seemingly a great catch, and had no problem finding a wife and having a family.
Peck’s accomplishments go beyond his social success. A self-taught scientist, Peck studied classic languages and math, though his path took him to away from those endeavors. An interest in botany bloomed, and he subsequently went beyond the basics and into a deep study of mosses and fungi.
During his life, Peck beefed up his scientific credentials perhaps more than his social ones — he described more than 2,700 new species of fungus. He collaborated with colleagues nationally and internationally and developed a lasting connection to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew (just outside of London), where he sent more than 400 species for documentation.
Some of his specimens are still held at Kew, and this British institution now leads the world in its collection, classification and nomenclature standardization of fungi. Kew, along with a few other partners, manages the Index Fungorum, a global effort to list and make consistent the scientific names of all known fungal species.
It was through that effort that I found Peck and connected him to one of the most common fungi.
Stereum complicatum, more commonly known as crowded parchment, is a bracket fungus that is widespread in North America, with the exception of the Rocky Mountains — where it is, interestingly enough, absent. This species is “saprobic,” meaning it lives on decaying organic matter and is active in its decomposition. You can find crowded parchment fungus on stumps, logs and sticks of hardwoods, especially oaks.
So how do you recognize it? “Crowded parchment” is an apt description for this orange species that densely colonizes and covers dead wood. Its spore print, which is another helpful way to identify mushrooms, is white, though the print is more difficult to get than other more typical mushrooms. Spore prints are usually obtained by taking the cap of a mushroom and placing it on a piece of paper. The spores will drop out of the fruiting body and leave a print of sorts that aids in the specimen’s identification.
Dramatically, species in its genus, Stereum, can be divided into two groups: bleeders and non-bleeders. Yes, mushrooms can “bleed,” bruising red and even oozing a ruddy-colored substance when scratched, broken, or bitten — likely a defense mechanism. You won’t see this phenomenon in crowded parchment, as it is one of the non-bleeders of the genus.
Crowded parchment fungus does have a different intriguing feature. It has been found on live turnip leaves, an unusual place for a dead-plant loving fungus to be sure. Scientists observed that the infected leaves would wilt, and hypothesized that it was the crowded parchment fungus causing this, perhaps as a way to generate a meal for itself.
Charles Peck would have surely been interested in the aforementioned study and its implications for the habits of organisms that he knew so well after a lifetime of scholarship and dedication.
“Life is a long lesson in humility,” wrote James Barrie (the author of Peter Pan); and Charles Peck, like any good scientist, would surely have embraced that virtue. Nature, and the research of it, are both so ever-changing that we can never master a subject so completely that surprises and new discoveries aren’t constantly our soul mates and rewards.
Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.
This article appears in January 23, 2026.