Calamus has many uses, including insecticidal, food, medicinal, decorative, and ceremonial uses. Also known as sweet flag, The Sabbathday Lake Shakers made candied sweet flag root as a sales item, the manufacture of which was discontinued as recently as 1960. The young tender fresh leaves can be added to spring salads. The leaves and stalks, and rhizome were used as (or in) foods by various American Indian groups. Use of the plant dates back at least 2,000 years in Chinese traditions, and in Western traditions back to the time of Moses. Medicinally, the rhizome has long been esteemed as an aromatic bitter to tone and settle the stomach and relieve indigestion, gas, and heartburn.

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