August, 1955 
Evers: Hitt Prairies or ILLINots 
a09 
Fig. 14.—Housen hill prairie, north of Rockport, Pike County. The forest of the basal slope 
extends to the bluff top through the drainageway at the left of the prairie. 
ghastrum nutans were abundant; 4. sco- 
parius was infrequent. At the top of the 
brow slope was a strip of woodland. Its 
northeast side had a dense border, 3 to 6 
feet wide, of Sorghastrum. At the base 
of the spurs, Mentzelia oligosperma grew 
in the crevices of the interrupted rock 
ledge. 
Seehorn-Payson.—The name of this 
hill prairie comes from a village in Pike 
County and a township in Adams Coun- 
ty. In 1950, prairie occupied about an 
acre of slope; part of this area was in the 
southwest quarter of section 31, T. 3 S., 
R. 7 W., Adams County, and part in sec- 
tion 6, T. 4+ S., R. 7 W., in Pike County. 
Astragalus distortus occurred on the loess 
and on the rock ledges. Mentzelia oli- 
gosperma grew on the rock ledges and the 
rocky slope above the ledges. The prairie 
was heavily pastured by cattle and sheep. 
Poa pratensis was the most abundant grass 
on the prairie slopes; Andropogon scopa- 
rius was infrequent. In September, 1950, 
very little of the herbaceous vegetation 
was more than 6 inches tall; the average 
was 3 to 4 inches, except for an occa- 
sional bunch of Bouteloua curtipendula. 
This prairie was visited May 28, July 2, 
and September 9, 1950. 
Sessions.—In the 3 years this hill prai- 
rie was under observation, it occupied 
about 4.5 acres of the upper southwest- 
and south-facing slope of the bluff in sec- 
tion 5, T. 5 S., R. 6 W., on the Sessions 
farm between Kinderhook and New Can- 
ton in Pike County. Prairie covered seven 
spurs, mixed forest the intervening coves. 
Above the rock ledge was a stony slope 
covered with prairie. Loess mantled the 
bluff. There was a generally flat upland 
to the northeast of the slope. Prairie cov- 
ered the almost flat spur-tops and some 
of the flat upland to the northeast. Much 
Rhus glabra grew on this flat surface and 
at the heads of the south-facing coves. 
Andropogon scoparius was the dominant 
grass. The entire site served as a pasture. 
Visits were made to Sessions hill prairie 
on September 7, 1949; May 28, July 2, 
September 8, 1950; and April 24, 1951. 
South New Canton.—A small hill 
prairie, less than 1,000 square feet in area, 
in 1950 occupied the southwest-facing 
bluff slope southeast of Morey Cemetery, 
about a mile southward along the bluffs 
from New Canton, Pike County. A rocky 
slope lay above the rock ledge, and loess 
capped the bluff. Andropogon scoparius 
was the dominant grass. Mentzelia oli- 
gosperma grew abundantly in the crevices 
and recesses of the ledge and infrequently 
on the lower part of the loess slope. The 
entire bluff and the upland ridge to the 
