August, 1955 



EvKRS: Hii.i. Prairies ok Illinois 



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Fig. 14. — Housen hill prairie, north of Kockport, Pike County. I'he forest of the basal slope 

 extends to the blutf top through the drainageway at the left of the prairie. 



ghastrum nutans were abundant ; A . sco- 

 ptirius 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 \illage in Pike 

 Count.v 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; Andropugon scopa- 

 rius was infrequent. In September, 1950, 

 \ery 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, Iul\- 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. 

 Abo\e 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 tlie southwest-facing 

 blufif slope southeast of Morey Cemetery, 

 about a mile southward along the bluflfs 

 from New Canton, Pike County. .A rocky 

 slope lay abo\e tiie rock ledge, and loess 

 capped the bluff. A ndropngon sioparius 

 was the dominant grass. Mentzelia oli- 

 gosperma grew abundantly in the crevices 

 and recesses of the ledge and infreijucntU' 

 on the lower part of the loess slope. The 

 entire bluff anil the upland ridge to the 



