396 



Illinois Natural Historv Sur\ev Bulletin 



Vol. 26, Art. 5 



section, town, and ranpe e.xcept for prai- 

 ries within municipalities, state parks, or 

 the olil French land grants. Tliese k'''"'^ 

 extended inland at right angles to the bank 

 of the Mississippi River and were not 

 surveyed according to the township sys- 

 tem. In this hill prairie study, such 

 grants were encountered in Monroe and 

 Randolph counties. 



For convenience in listing, the prairies 

 are di\ ided into three groups, (a) those 

 along the Mississippi River from Fast 

 Dubutiue to Grafton, (b) those along the 

 Rock, Sangamon, and Illinois rivers, and 

 (c) those along the Mississippi River 

 from (irafton to Cairo and elsewhere in 

 southern Illinois. On the bluffs south of 

 W'arsau, Hancock County, were several 

 small openings which were seen but not 

 examined for this study. Also, on the 

 south side of the lower Sangamon River 

 valley were a number of hill prairies, 

 some with north- and northwest-facing 

 slopes. Many of these prairie slopes served 

 as pastureland and were much disturbed. 

 Some of the slopes were completeI\ con- 

 verted to bluegra.ss pastureland. None of 

 these slopes was visited. Fig. I shows the 

 locations of these hill prairie sites. Not 

 described, nor indicated in fig. 1, are sev- 

 eral pastured grass slopes on the bluffs 

 of the Mississippi River, west and south 

 of Galena, Jo Daviess Count\-, which 

 were visited June 15-16, 1950. At that 

 time the\ were covered with many weeds 

 and they contained few prairie plants. 



East Dubuque to Grafton 



El Rancho. — This prairie, located on 

 the bluff above the Fl Rancho Cafe in 

 East Dubuque, Jo Daviess Count)', was 

 visited Julv 16 and October 4, l')5(); 

 May 9 and June 14, 1951. Prairie, 

 slightly over an acre in area, covered the 

 stony part of the slope above the cliff, 

 and also the loess on that part of the slope 

 above the stony part. The uppermost part 

 of the slope and the generally flat bluff- 

 top, greatly disturbed by the WPA in 

 constructing stone foundations for a fire- 

 place and two shelters, had been much 

 trampled and was weedy. Two Indian 

 mounds crowned the spur nearest the cafe. 

 A forested cove separated this spur from 



anotiier to the south. Three Indian 

 mounds occupied the crest of the southern 

 spur. A iidropoyon scopurius was the dom- 

 inant grass of both spurs; S/ipti sptirtea 

 grew in large patches on the south spur 

 and was in smaller, scattered patches on 

 tiie north spur. 



Menominee Station. — This prairie, in 

 the southwest quarter of section 17, I . 

 27 N., R. 1 W., on the bluffs of the Mis- 

 sissippi River, about one-half mi'.e south- 

 east of Menominee Station, Jo Daviess 

 Countv, was visited October 4, 1''50; 

 May 9 and June 14, 1951. Prairie cov- 

 ered about 4 acres on parts of four south- 

 west-facing spurs. Rock fragments cov- 

 ered the surface for a few yards above the 

 rock ledge; loess capped the bluff. Jn- 

 dropoyon scop/iriiis was the dominant 

 grass. The northeast-facing slope of the 

 northernmost spur and the uplands ad- 

 joining the remaining spurs supported a 

 mixed forest. Rhus glabra formed deii'-e 

 stands on three spur-tops, and it extended 

 downslope on the north sides of these 

 spurs. I'opulus treniuluides occupied a 

 part of the crest of the northernmost spur 

 of this prairie. 



North Savanna. — Prairie covered the 

 upper southwest- and west-facing slopes 

 of the bluff-ridge in section 21, T. 25 N., 

 R. 3 F., 3 miles north of Savanna, Car- 

 roll County, when the site was visited 

 June 14, 1951. On the slopes above the 

 rock ledge, Bnuteloua hirsuta was abun- 

 dant. Disturbed prairie covered the crest 

 of the ridge. Northward along the ridge, 

 the slope and top were occupied almost en- 

 tireK' by Juniperus virt/iniana. 



Sunset Trail. — At the time this study 

 was made, prairie occupied one northwest- 

 facing spur, three west-facing spurs, and 

 one south- to southwest-facing spur on 

 the bluff north of the Administration 

 Building in the Mississippi Palisades 

 State Park, north of Savanna. Carroll 

 County. A trail, Sunset Trail, crossed 

 parts of this prairie. A ndropugon sco- 

 pariiis and Bouteloua curlipendiila were 

 abundant grasses. Sandy loess covered 

 the northwest- and west-facing slopes ; the 

 south-facing slope was stony. The stony 

 slope was not so steep as the loess slopes. 

 These spurs were visited October 4, 1950, 

 and June 14, 1951. 



