Pipe-weed
A preparation of the plant Nicotiana that Hobbits (and selected other afficionados) used to smoke.
The pipe-weed plant was most likely not native to Middle-earth and it is possible it was brought by Men of Númenor from over the sea. The pipe-weed plant grew very abundantly in Gondor, even though the idea of smoking it did not occur to mortal Men until the Hobbits introduced this concept. The plant was most likely carried north up the Greenway, by some way or another, and ended up growing around Bree.
Tobold Hornblower was the first in the Shire to grow pipe-weed, in SR 1070. Before that date, the weed had only been smoked in Bree. The more clement climate of the Southfarthing made the resulting weed superior to the Bree variety in aroma, strength and taste.
Meriadoc Brandybuck was the acknowledged expert on pipe-weed, accumulating all his knowledge in his book, Herblore of the Shire.
Pipe-weed came in different varieties, among them Old Toby,Longbottom Leaf, Southern Star, and Southlinch.
Also called:
leaf, weed, and sweet galenas
Additional information provided by Mark Hoff.
The pipe-weed plant was most likely not native to Middle-earth and it is possible it was brought by Men of Númenor from over the sea. The pipe-weed plant grew very abundantly in Gondor, even though the idea of smoking it did not occur to mortal Men until the Hobbits introduced this concept. The plant was most likely carried north up the Greenway, by some way or another, and ended up growing around Bree.
Tobold Hornblower was the first in the Shire to grow pipe-weed, in SR 1070. Before that date, the weed had only been smoked in Bree. The more clement climate of the Southfarthing made the resulting weed superior to the Bree variety in aroma, strength and taste.
Meriadoc Brandybuck was the acknowledged expert on pipe-weed, accumulating all his knowledge in his book, Herblore of the Shire.
Pipe-weed came in different varieties, among them Old Toby,Longbottom Leaf, Southern Star, and Southlinch.
Also called:
leaf, weed, and sweet galenas
Additional information provided by Mark Hoff.
Encyclopedia entry originally written by atalante_star