What I Identified – The Tasty Hawk’s Wing Mushroom

Disclaimer: This post is not for identification purposes and only entertainment. Please use wise judgment and use multiple published sources of identification and expert advice before consuming any wild food.

Appropriate Common Name

When you come across Hawks Wing (Sarcodon inbricatus) you’ll know what I mean when I say it is appropriately named.  This mushroom is one of the most abundant in my area and my husband and I have been eating and drying lbs of these a week lately.  They are delicious, fairly easy to identify, and abundant (in my area).

Hawks Wing may be one of the first wild mushrooms I had eaten in Colorado many years ago so I have become very familiar with it.  I want to share some of its characteristics so you can correctly identify it for yourself  and enjoy is as much as we have.

Without A Bearer Of Gills

Hawks Wings are part of the Order Aphyllophorales which literally means “without a bearer of gills”  Mushrooms in this order have instead of what is commonly associated with mushrooms (gills), have what are called in mycology – clubs, folds, veins, teeth and sines.  The underside of Hawk’s Wings are considered teeth.  

The cap portion of the fruiting body has raised brownish scales and the overall mushroom is lighter in color when young and darkens as it ages. In addition to the color, we have noticed that this mushroom will tend to get much more firm as it ages compared to a fresh young mushroom. 

As an aside, there are many interesting looking mushrooms in this Order including the adorable Fairy Fingers Alloclavaria purpurea and the cauliflower-like Ramaria largentii.  Both reputed to be edible but I do not have experience with taste testing these quite yet.   

Non Bitter Tasting Notes

Some sources of this mushroom cite that it may be bitter.  I have never encountered a bitter Hawk’s Wing but I also have never tried a clearly old and very mature ‘shroom.  I have wondered if this is what these sources are referring to or if it has been confused with a similar species, Sarcodon scabrosus as I have read this is a possibility.  This is something the forager would need to look into more deeply as you ID this mushroom.

Those of you who have had a bitter Hawks Wing can weigh in on this topic.

I would consider this a choice mushroom in every sense. It has a deep robust flavor that compliments red meat very well and would satisfy any mushroom lover. Since my husband and I have been finding so many of these mushrooms we have been getting creative with adding these to our meals so we can use them up in large quantities. I will share a burger recipe that we have been enjoying that prominently uses Hawks Wing soon.  

Medicinal and Creative Uses

Thanks to scientists like Paul Stamets, the knowledge that many mushrooms have legitimate medicinal and therapeutic uses is somewhat mainstream.  This leads to research to other lesser known mushrooms like Hawks Wing to be explored.  A study published in 2019 found Hawks Wing to have anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects. This is so fascinating and illustrates how much there is to learn about what foods can do for us.

For a natural fiber color, Hawks Wing could used for a blue-green dye! a non edible but a creative way to use a large haul of mushrooms. I have not tried this but would love to dive into and experiment with this and other mushroom dyes someday.  I love to learn about and explore wild edibles but I forget about the artistic inspiration they give us as well.

Have You Seen This Mushroom?

I hope I have inspired you to look further into Hawks Wing if you were ever put off about the ‘bitter’ reports in some books.  With appropriate identification and responsible test testing you too could enjoy this mushroom.

Additional Resources

Mushrooms of the Rocky Mountain Region by Stucky Evenson and Denver Botanic Gardens