Mr. Simpson brought the four most common Illinois prairie grasses to show to our classes.
From left to right, students in 4-V are holding little bluestem,
switchgrass, Indian grass, and big bluestem.
Illinois' nickname is "The Prairie State." Sixty percent of Illinois was once covered with prairie grass. Prairie fires were common before settlers came and in the early years. Every one to five years, prairie fires started and burned the prairie. Buffalo, elk, and deer grazed on prairie grass to keep the grass about knee high, which was the prairie chickens' favorite height for nesting.
Early settlers adopted the French word "prairie" to describe areas with no trees and covered with tall grasses. Early settlers first thought that the prairies were scary with lots of biting insects, the hot and humid summers, the cold and windy winters, and the prairie fires. They thought that the soil wasn't good because there were no trees. The prairies often have droughts, too. Plows couldn't cut through the prairie soil, so John Deere invented a self-scouring plow that could break the prairie sod.
There were four main types of prairie grass in Illinois. They are switch grass, Indian grass, big bluestem, and little bluestem.
Switch grass has an open head. It's also bushy, and grows in wet areas. The roots may be 11 feet deep.
Indian grass grows in drier areas than switch grass.
Big bluestem grows up to nine feet tall. The early settlers had to stand on their saddles to see over it. It grows in medium wet areas. The roots may be seven feet deep or more. In June, July, and August, the stem turns to bluish green. It turns orange as it goes dormant for the winter. It is the Illinois' Official Prairie Grass.
Little bluestem grows waist high in areas drier than big bluestem. In June, July, and August, the stem turns bluish green. It turns orange as it goes dormant for the winter, too.
Today, 99.99% of the original prairie is gone. Only about 2,300 acres of high quality prairie is left. Most of it is along highways and railroads. Farming and the growth of cities took much of the prairie.
