Piton, Grias neuberthii played an important part in shaping the taste of a woman’s mouth so that she would make good tasting chicha. One of the key expressions of female sensuality was the taste of the chicha a woman made by chewing manioc. When the pale yellow Piton flowers appeared in October and November they were given to little girls to hold in their mouths. The idea was, that over the years of holding the flower in her mouth the girl’s saliva would acquire the habitual taste of the flower. When she was older she would then impart this taste to her chicha by chewing the manioc. The interesting assumption here is that the girl’s mouth would not just borrow the perfume of the flower momentarily but could actually learn to produce this scent through a sharing of bodily knowledge with the tree. The Kichwa term used is yacharishca to become accustomed to. The mouth becomes accustomed or habituated to the taste of the flower. Out of curiosity I have chewed the flower myself. It is slightly bitter and not particularly good tasting on its own. But when combined with saliva and manioc it is said to produce a very attractive chicha.