402 



Illinois Natural History Survey Bullltin 



Vol. 26, Art. 5 



on June 23 and October J, 1950, and 

 May 7, 1951. 



Standard. — In l')51. prairie occupied 

 about a balf acre of tbe upper southwest- 

 facing ravine slope in section 26, T. ii 

 N., R. 1 W., 1 mile west and 3 miles 

 north of Standard Putnam County. Pet- 

 alostemiim purpiirctim, .hnorpha caii- 

 escens, and Corropsis fmhiitita were some 

 of the plants in this prairie. This site was 

 visited July 7. 1951. 



Magnolia. — \Vhen the prairie opening 

 given this name was last visited, it occu- 

 pied slightly less than an acre on the 

 west- to south-facing upper slope of the 

 bluff in the southwest ciuartcr of section 

 34, T. 31 N., R. 2 W., about 7 miles 

 west of Magnolia, Putnam Count)'. The 

 bluff is capped with till; loess, if present, 

 apparently is very thin. Scattered shrubs 

 of Rhus glabra occurred throughout the 

 opening. Corniis drumiiiondi and small 

 elms grew on the south-facing slope, 

 where also a few dead and scattered 

 stems of honey locust were seen. AikIkj- 

 pogon scoparius was the dominant grass. 

 Comandra uwhetlttta was very abundant, 

 Psoralea tentiiflora common. Mixed for- 

 est surrounded this prairie opening. Mag- 

 nolia prairie was visited on September 29, 

 1949; Mav 1() and .August 4, 1950. 



East Henry. — This name designates a 

 group of five prairie openings on the 

 southwest-facing bluff of Sandy Creek; 

 the bluff is in the northwest quarter of 

 section 3, T. 30 N., R. 2 W., and south- 

 east of Henry, Marshall County. When 

 the area was visited August 4, 1950, the 

 westernmost opening was weedy and 

 much disturbed. At the base of the b'uft 

 below this opening was a gravel pit. The 

 next opening eastward supported prairie 

 plants and also a thicket of Rhus glabra. 

 Cornus druminondi, Malus ioensis, and 

 Ulmus sp. This opening and the next one 

 to the east were pastured. In the prairie 

 areas, Andropogon scoparius was the 

 dominant grass, Bouteloua curtlpendula, 

 Psoralea tenuiflora, and Silphium lacinia- 

 tum were common. Weeds, Chamaesyce 

 maculata, Mfdicago lupuina, Poinsettia 

 deutata, and Meli'olus alba, were fre- 

 quently encountered in these areas. Prai- 

 rie openings on the two easternmost spurs 

 were not examined. 



Reavis Spring. — This prairie, when 

 visited, co\ered almost 19 acres of the 

 sandv loess bluffs in parts of sections 25, 

 26, and 36, T. 20 N., R. 7 W., about 5 

 miles south of Easton, Mason County. 

 The name Reavis Spring was that of a 

 school house, abandoned and later re- 

 moved, that once occupied a part of the 

 lower slope of the bluff in section 26. A 

 road, which followed the general south- 

 west-facing bluff, was on the lower sandy 

 slopes. Downs'.ope to the southwest was 

 a series of thickets and cultivated fields. 

 Upslope to the northeast was the prairie, 

 which occupied numerous spurs. Thicket 

 c()\ ered the bases of some coves, shrubs or 

 prairie the upper slopes. Prairie covered 

 the crests of the spurs; mixed forest or 

 prairie occupied the tops of the bluffs. 



The bluffs at Reavis Spring prairie rise 

 256 feet above the Sangamon River bot- 

 tomland and are higher than the dissected 

 upland to the nortlieast. The valley over- 

 looked by these bluffs is notable in sev- 

 eral respects. It has a wide bottom trend- 

 ing generally east-west. The Sangamon 

 River enters it from the south and joins a 

 small, west-flowing stream, Salt Creek, in 

 section 6, T. 19 N., R. 6 W., about 1 

 mile upstream from the Reavis Spring lo- 

 cation. The valley is about as wide, rather 

 surprisingly, above the junction of the 

 Sangamon River with the small stream as 

 below it. Salt Creek has a volume too 

 small to account for so wide a valley. It 

 is probable that through this valley a gla- 

 cial torrent once drained a part of the 

 Wisconsin ice-front, then some miles east 

 of the Rea\is Spring site, and brought 

 down huge amounts of sand and silt. 

 From these were derived the thick de- 

 posits of loess and fine sand on the bor- 

 dering bluffs. Other sizable hill prairies 

 occur or did occur on the bluffs for a few 

 miles east of the junction of Salt Creek 

 with the Sangamon Ri\er. 



Reavis Spring prairie was visited Sep- 

 tember 15, 1949; Julv 6, 1950; May 18, 

 1951; and March 25, 1952. The domi- 

 nant grass was Andropogon scoparius. 

 Also growing in the prairie were A goseris 

 cuspidata, Polytaenia nuftallii, and the 

 easilv overlooked Spiranthes cernua. I he 

 prairie, which served as a cow pasture, 

 contained a number of weeds, Verbascuin 



