Western Illinois

Upper Mississippi & Illinois River Bottomlands

This Natural Division is located along the floodplains and backwater sloughs of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers north of the Missouri River. The rivers provide important migration corridors and wintering habitats for many migratory bird species, including the Bald Eagle. These magnificent birds are now occasionally seen roosting in trees along the rivers in this natural division.

The floodplains in this area are the only places in the world where one can find the beautiful Decurrent False Aster. Among the woodland wildflowers in the natural division grow the delicate Wild Geranium, the cheerful Blue-eyed Mary and the tiny Spring Cress.

Western Forest-Prairie

This area in the western section of the state was characterized by gently rolling hills scattered with a mix of prairies and forests and contains savannas, one of the most endangered habitats in the world. A savanna is a transition zone between prairies and forests, an area with large scattered oak trees and a variety of prairie grasses and wildflowers growing underneath.

This natural division has many distinctive wildflowers in its prairie and savanna remnants such as the Bunchflower, the unusual Closed Gentian and colorful Turk's Cap Lily.

Illinois & Mississippi River Sand Areas

As the glaciers melted and retreated north, they released a tremendous amount of sand and gravel into the floodplain. The strong western winds blew this sand out of the rivers and into large sand dune areas on the east sides of the Mississippi River and Illinois River.

Certain characteristic plant and animal species live in these sand dunes, including the shrubby Aromatic Sumac, the Silvery Bladderpod, False Heather, Rock Spikemoss, and the rare Regal Fritillary Butterfly.

Middle Mississippi Border

As the glaciers moved across the state thousands of years ago, they pulverized the rocks that lay in their path, creating loess, a mix of powdered rock and silt, that settled in the floodplains along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Strong western winds blew the silt out of the river floodplain into tall hills on the east sides of the rivers.

These steep loess hillsides support a mixture of forest and prairies. Some characteristic species of wildflowers found on hill prairies include Pale Purple Coneflower, Prairie Coreopsis, Wild Quinine, and Common Sumac. Rich woodlands boast the occurrence of Spikenard, False Dragonhead and the lovely Maidenhair Fern.

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