August, 1955 



EvERs: Hii.i Prairies of Illinois 



407 



Oblate Fathers. — This name, taken 

 from the mailbox at the entrance to the 

 property on which the prairie is located, 

 was adopted to designate a much-disturbed 

 hill prairie situated in the northeast quar- 

 ter of section 5, T. 5 N., R. 10 W., be- 

 nveen Alton and Clifton Terrace, Madi- 



ridge between Illinois highway 157 and 

 the Collinsvftle road just north of Casey- 

 ville in St. Clair County was the site of 

 this hill prairie. The name of this prairie 

 was derived from the presence of aban- 

 doned concrete bunkers along the high- 

 way The site was visited Julv 8 and 



T 





v 



■:m\'-!f^' 



Fi^. 21. — Block House hill prairie, near Glen Carbon, Madison County, 

 a cultivated field, beyond which are prairie spurs. 



in the loreground 



son County. When this site was visited 

 on July 25, 1951, prairie with many 

 weeds covered about 3 acres of the south- 

 west-facing bluff slope that served as a 

 pasture for horses. 



Block House, — Responsible for the 

 name of this hill prairie was the shape of 

 a small house on the bluff-top in the 

 northeast quarter of section 32, T. 4 N., 

 R. 8 W., west and north of Glen Carbon, 

 Madison County, fig. 21. Block House 

 was visited July 8 and August 29, 1950: 

 also May 24, 1951. Here the bluff was 

 seen to be deep loess, with no visible rock 

 outcrops. The lower slope of the bluff 

 bordering the highway was a cultivated 

 field ; the upper slope had prairie-covered 

 spurs and thicket-covered coves. Andrn- 

 pogon scoparius was the dominant grass. 

 The rop of the bluff was a disturbed 

 prairie. 



Bunker. — A sroup of loess mounds in 

 section 5, T. 2 X., R. 8 W., that form a 



August 29, 1950: also May 24, 1Q51. 

 The east-facing slope of the ridge sup- 

 ported a mixed forest. On the west-fac- 

 ing slope of the ridge were prairie spurs, 

 much disturbed by mules and cattle that 

 grazed this land. The steep spur-fronts 

 were prairie, the coves more or less 

 wooded. One small cove contained much 

 prairie vegetation, including Silphium in- 

 tegrifolium, lernonia missurica, and 

 Cacalia alriplicifolia. A thicket covered 

 the ba^e of the slope. 



Edgemont. — This hill prairie, located 

 in the southeast quarter of section 26, T. 

 2 N., R. 9 W., in Edgemont, a subdivision 

 of East St. Louis, in 1940 occupied 4 

 acres of the bluff slope as determined by 

 planimeter from aerial photographs. An- 

 dropogon scoparius. A. gerardi, and Bott- 

 telnua curtipendula were some of the prai- 

 rie grasses on this slope when the prairie 

 was visited on September 2, 1949. This 

 prairie, because of its location, is rapidly 



