Hidden Oaks Prairie
Hidden Oaks Prairie is on a south-facing point, near the back and center part of our land. There's a wonderful wooded view south through our Center Valley.
This picture is from October 2003, looking south from the top of the point.
The top of the prairie is nearly flat, with one slope that faces southeast, and one that faces southwest. The soil is sandy, and there are several large animal dens in the edge of the woods on the southeast-facing slope. It's surrounded by woods. The woods below the prairie are mostly aspen and birch, so I'm sure that at one time the prairie went all the way down both slopes. The prairie has some patches of large Sumac bushes, and many smaller Sumacs. But in between the sumac are prairie flowers and grasses, and few weeds.
At the top of the prairie is a grove of Burr Oaks. There are several very old trees, and a large group of young ones.
Here's a plant list for the prairie.
Amorpha canescens - Leadplant
Andropogon gerardii - Big Bluestem
Anemone cylindrica - Thimbleweed
Arabis lyrata - Sand Cress
Asclepias verticillata - Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias viridiflora - Green-flowered Milkweed
Aster ericoides - Heath Aster
Aster oolentangiensis - Sky-blue Aster
Aster sericeus - Silky Aster
Bouteloua curtipendula - Side-oats Grama
Bouteloua hirsuta - Hairy Grama
Bromus kalmii - Prairie Brome
Campanula rotundifolia - Harebell
Cirsium discolor - Field Thistle
Coreopsis palmata - Prairie Coreopsis
Dalea purpurea - Purple Prairie Clover
Hedeoma hispida - Rough Pennyroyal
Liatris aspera - Rough Blazing Star
Linum sulcatum - Yellow Flax
Lithospermum canescens - Hoary Puccoon
Lobelia spicata - Spiked Lobelia
Monarda fistulosa - Monarda
Muhlenbergia cuspidata - Prairie Satin Grass
Schizachyrium scoparium - Little Bluestem
Sisyrinchium campestre - Blue-eyed Grass
Solidago nemoralis - Gray Goldenrod
Solidago ptarmicoides - White Goldenrod
Sporobolus heterolepis - Prairie Dropseed
Viola pedata - Birds Foot Violet
Viola pedatifida - Prairie Violet
Behind the prairie, to the north, is a flat wooded area that used to be savanna. It has many prairie plants, but it's so thickly overgrown with trees and brush that it's hard to see them. This was taken in August of 2002, looking north into the savanna area.
Here are updates on what we've done and how the prairie is changing.