[citation needed] The Maidu Concow people call the plant pö (Konkow language).

[2] The plant serves as a larval host for the snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis),[10] which is a pollinator that resembles a small hummingbird.

[11] It is also a host plant for the dogbane tiger moth (Cycnia tenera) and the zebra caterpillar (Melanchra picta).

The larvae of Marmara apocynella[10] feed on the stems, making a "long whitish serpentine mine".

[7] According to Craig Bates of the Yosemite Museum, five stalks of the plant are needed to make one foot of cordage.

[18] The stems should be harvested in the fall, after the leaves have fallen and the stalks have turned a deep reddish-brown color.

Unused stems are traditionally cleared away by burning, which causes the plant to grow back taller and straighter in spring.

A weak tea made from the dried root has been used for cardiac diseases and as a vermifuge (an agent that expels parasitic worms).