Funk’s Grove

I appreciate both the open-grown oaks, despite being most easily seen above turf and farm rather than savanna (right)… and the lovely forest, despite its having grown up during fire suppression – with familiar faces of Floerkea (left). From the Illinois State Museum: “Private individuals preserved Funk’s Grove, southwest of Bloomington on Old Route 66 in central Illinois. A portion of these woods, Thaddeus-Stubblefield Grove, is a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve established in 1993. It contains 1600 acres of oak savannas, woodlands, and forests. It has some of the largest trees in the state, and the best example of a bur oak grove. A secondary forest of maples is present; local people harvest and sell maple syrup.”