The Kichwa name kallana, comes from the similarity of its shape to that of a ceramic vessel used to drink chicha. Mothers placed these fungi in the hands of their daughters from the time they could walk so that their hands would become accustomed to its shape. Frequent handling of the kallana ala is believed to impart aesthetic knowledge to the hands. When the girl is older her hands will be able to make drinking vessels that mimic the shape of the kallana. Cookeina tricholona (kallana ala) is thus model for the shape of the kallana drinking vessel (also called mucagua or mucaja.)