are frequent. Buttonbush is found at the base of the 
bluff. The herbaceous flora of the bluff is rich in 
species. Numerous grasses, sedges, and ferns grow 
on the stony slope. In the vicinity of the spring at the 
base of the bluff, clearweed, wild hydrangea, false 
nettle, and touch-me-not are common. 
At the border of the swamp and bluff base, sev- 
eral plants of the rare spider lily grow under the soft 
maples and American elms. In the swamp, the bald 
cypress grows abundantly and the pneumatophores are 
very common on the swamp floor. Associated with the 
bald cypress are big shellbark hickory, Drummond’s 
maple, swamp cottonwood, overcup oak, and other 
trees. Common vines in this area are catbird grape 
and trumpet creeper. Erect shrubs include swamp 
privet, buttonbush, Virginia willow, and swamp rose. 
Not all of this swamp floor supports an her- 
baceous vegetation, but where the herbs grow can be 
found ditch stonecrop, lizard’s-tail, skullcap, and the 
beautiful, deep red cardinal flower. Among these are 
scattered plants of Asclepias perennis. The associa- 
tions of plants on the decaying logs, fig. 33, are sim- 
ilar to those in the Karnak swamp. 
The two swamps described here are in private 
ownership. 
19. THORNTON’S RAVINE 
Thornton’s Ravine is located along the Ohio 
River about 5 miles downstream from Metropolis or 
slightly more than 2 miles upstream from Joppa, in 
Massac County. The ravine, which occupies parts of 
sections 19, 20, 29, and 30, T. 15 S., R. 4 E., ex- 
tends northward from the bank of the river for approx- 
imately 0.5 mile. Because of its propinquity to the 
fiver, the ravine is subjected to periodic flooding. The 
floodwaters at times inundate most of the length of 
the ravine, except the uppermost slopes. The slopes 
and floor of the ravine lack rock outcrops. 
Some of the flat uplands adjacent to the ravine 
serve as pastureland and some as orchard land. The 
tavine itself is forested; the upper half is grazed, the 
lower half, that nearer the Ohio River, is ungrazed. 
At the mouth of the ravine, which opens into the Ohio 
River valley, is a narrow floodplain that for several 
years was planted in corn but that in 1961, when I 
last visited it, was idle as part of the Soil Bank pro- 
gram. The bank of the river, composed mainly of silt 
and small pockets of gravel, supports a growth of 
black willow, soft maple, cottonwood, and sycamore. 
Swamp privet is the common shrub, and two species 
of primrose-willows are among the many herbaceous 
plants that thrive on the riverbank. The forest at the 
mouth of the ravine includes bald cypress, red maple, 
Sweet gum, and overcup oak. Gama grass is common 
and poison ivy is very abundant. 
Farther up the ravine from the river the notable 
trees are big shellbark hickory, persimmon, Missis- 
sippi hackberry, box elder, hop hornbeam, and silver- 
bell tree, fig. 34, According to Herman Thornton, a 
Fig. 34.— A silver-bell tree about 8 inches in diameter 
growing in Thornton’s Ravine, near Joppa, Massac County. 
local resident, squirrels are abundant and they greed- 
ily devour the fruits of the silver-bell tree. Many of 
the silver-bell trees are small, but one has a diameter 
at breast height of approximately 8 inches. An oc- 
casional shadbush can be observed with the numer- 
ous redbuds, especially in the spring before the 
foliage appears. The most common shrub ts spice- 
bush. Of the numerous herbaceous plants in this 
forest, two deserve attention. Blood-leaf and Di- 
cliptera brachiata, both rare in Illinois, grow near the 
mouth of the ravine, a part subjected to heavy flood- 
ing. 
Thornton’s Ravine is in private ownership. 
20. FORT MASSAC STATE PARK 
Fort Massac State Park is located along the north 
bank of the Ohio River, east of Metropolis, Massac 
County. Easily reached from highway US 45, the park 
occupies 840 acres of riverbank and bottomland 
woods. The locality was set aside as a state park 
because of its historical interest. It is the site of 
Fort Massac, also called Fort Cherokee. 
Perhaps the first biologist to visit Fort Massac 
was the French botanist Andre Michaux, who arrived 
on Thursday, October 8, 1795. He botanized in the 
area --in both Illinois and Kentucky -- until November 
6, when he returned to Kaskaskia. What Michaux saw 
and what the visitor today can see in the area are 
vastly different. The large bottomland forests and 
swamps have been cut and drained; only remnants 
remain. One of the trees of this bottomland is the 
willow oak, fig. 35. Its numbers have dwindled since 
25 
