Food:

"At Jemez it was said that mixing the flower bracts with chile seeds would prevent spoilage of the latter." (Dunmire and Tierney 213)

Medicine:

"As a diuretic, the Spanish New Mexicans wash and boil the plant well. A teaspoonful of sugar is added to the stained liquid, and this is drunk every two or three hours. And for inflammations of the skin and supposed cases of leprosy, two parts of ground flor de Santa Rita are mixed with one part of mashed cana agria roots (wild pieplant), and one part of powdered piedra lmbre (alum). Then this combination is sprinkled on the diseased places as a desiccant." (Moore 71)

"The Tewa prepared a bathing solution from the whole plant, the purpose of which was to alleviate the aches and pains that inevitably attend long outdoor ceremonies." (Dunmire and Tierney 213)

Other Uses:

"Children pull off the flowers and suck their honey, in the same way as they extract honey from clover and honeysuckle, ad when they hit the back of their hands with the painter's brush blossoms, there is a resultant pop like that of small paper bags that have been blown up with air." (Moore 71)

"The most common historic use for paintbrush has been in conjunction with other plants to color deer skins red. It also was an ingredient, along with minerals, in the production of black paint." (Dunmire and Tierney 213)