The specific name, tenera, means "delicate" and alludes to its small size.

In both Wales and Japan, P. tenera (and P. yezoensis) serve as a principal component of dried seaweed food, and has been actively cultivated since ancient times.

In Japan, it is most often used in nori, (and in China as zicai, and Korea as gim), and as such is a prime ingredient in sushi.

In Wales (and to some degree, England), it is used in the traditional food, laverbread.

Like many of the edible seaweed species, it is susceptible to infection by the parasitic oomycete Pythium porphyrae.