Pipestem

From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia

European settlers fashioned tobacco-pipe stems from "pipestem," a plant that formerly grew in abundance on upper waters of Pipestem Creek, a tributary of Bluestone River. The practice of using the plant's hollow, woody stems had been attributed to natives who lived in villages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ancient) in the New River and Bluestone River valleys around 1000 A.D. Pipestem Resort State Park and the community of Pipestem, WV, takes their name from the plant. Its species is unverified but may be Spirea alba, according to officials at the state park.