August, 1955 



EvERs: Hill Prairies of Illinois 



405 



not so greatly disturbed. Stones strewed 

 the slope in places just above the rock 

 ledge ; sandy loess and sand capped the 

 bluff. This prairie was visited Septem- 

 ber 1, 1949; April 14, May 23, and Julv 

 25, 1950. 



South Eldred. — In 1950, prairie cov- 

 ered about 4.5 acres of two southwest- 

 facing slopes in the southwest quarter of 

 section 4, T. 9 N., R. 13 VV., 2 miles 

 south of Eldred, Greene County. The 

 prairie formed an inverted U with the 

 prongs of the U extending downslope. 

 Andropoijun scoparius. was the dominant 

 grass; Scnecio platlensis and Lithoaper- 

 mum cancscens were common. This site 

 was visited May 23, 1^)50. 



Richwood. — \Vhen last visited, tiiis 

 prairie, in the southeast quarter of section 

 8, T. 8 N., R. 13 W., Richwood Town- 

 ship, Jersey County, occupied 4 acres of 

 the long, curved ridge which extends from 

 the rock ledge on the southwest up to the 

 bluff-top. The abundant grasses were 

 Andropogon scoparius, A. gerardi, and 

 Bouteloua curtipendula. A small arm of 

 the prairie stretched northwestward on a 

 small branch of the ridge. A mixed for- 

 est covered the bluff slope to the west and 

 the ravines on the east and north. Rich- 

 wood was visited September 7, 1949, and 

 May 23, 1950. 



Pere Marquette. — At the time of this 

 study, prairie vegetation occupied about 

 3.5 acres on the spurs of the southwest- 

 facing bluffs, Pere Marquette State Park, 

 west of Grafton, Jersey County. The 

 prairie observed for this study was on the 

 slopes west of the westernmost parking 

 area that was located on the crest of the 

 bluff. Mixed forest grew in the coves 

 between the grass-covered spurs. A little 

 below the top of the eastern and central 

 spurs a firebreak crossed the prairie. 

 Weeds, including Amhrosin elatior and 

 Erigeron canadensis, grew among scat- 

 tered plants of prairie species in this fire- 

 break. The dominant grass of the prairie 

 slope was A ndropot/on scoparius. Des- 

 manthus il'inoensis grew on the western 

 spur and was very abundant on the cen- 

 tral one. The western spur was disturbed 

 by a bridle path which followed the crest 

 of the spur and had cut 2 feet into the 

 loess. The bluff-top was covered by a 



thicket of small trees and shrubs, includ- 

 ing Crataegus crus-galli, Cornus druiii- 

 inondi, Malus ioensis, Cercis canadensis, 

 and Sassafras albiduni. Pere Marquette 

 was visited Julv 8 and August 20, 1050; 

 May 25 and November 29, 1951. 



Grafton to Cairo and Elsewhere 

 in Southern Illinois 



Chautauqua. — A small village resort 

 at the convergence of several ravines about 

 3 miles east of Grafton furnished the 

 name for this prairie. The prairie, a part 

 of section 13, T. 6 N., R. 12 W., in Jer- 

 sey County, covered four south-facing 

 spurs, mixed forest the coves. The base 

 of each spur was a rock ledge at the top 

 of the cliff which here closely parallels 

 the Mississippi River. The spur slope 

 above each ledge was covered with prai- 

 rie; Andropogon scoparius was the dom- 

 inant grass. Ah'lica nitens occurred on 

 the stony prairie slope above the ledge. 

 Numerous weedy species such as Setaria 

 viridis, Achillea millefolium, Ambrosia 

 elatior, Lappula echinata, and Geranium 

 carolinianum were present. Ciiautauiiua 

 hill prairie was visited fulv 8 and August 

 29, 1950; also May 25, 1951. 



Principia. — A college furnished the 

 name for this hill prairie, a part of the 

 college campus. At this location in section 

 20, T. 6 N., R. 11 W., east of Elsah, 

 Jersey County, the bluff of the Mississippi 

 River has a high limestone cliff' that is 

 capped b\- a mantle of loess. The cliff' is 

 not a simple wall, but has sharp salients 

 projecting well beyond the loess spurs 

 above them, fig. 19. Prairie, with an area 

 of 4 acres, predominated on the spurs in 

 1950 and 1951. Andropogon scoparius 

 was the dominant grass ; Sporoholus asper 

 was localh' abundant. Several paths used 

 by students traversed the spurs and the 

 crest of the ridge ; elsewhere the prairie 

 was undisturbed. The lower parts of 

 coves supported mixed forest. Above this 

 forest, tree seedlings and Rhus glabra 

 occurred scatteringly to the top of the 

 ridge, fig. 20. The north side of the ridge 

 was well forested. Principia prairie was 

 visited April 21, May 2.^, July 8, and 

 August 29, 1950; Julv 5 and November 

 29, 1951. 



