Breiter-Palm Prairie includes an ephemeral wetland prairie at the park's center, where wetland conditions occur only during the wet season and plants are adapted to seasonal changes in soil moisture. The east and west sides of the park feature dry prairie, which is typically found on hillsides and in sandy soil. When the first settlers came to the Bensenville area in the early 1800s, most of the Illinois landscape was prairie, covering more than 22 million acres. Prairie is a type of grassland made up of grasses and forbs, flowering plants with soft stems and deep roots, and the deep roots of prairie vegetation can form a thick underground mat that traps and holds water. Above ground, many different prairie plants can live together and provide food and shelter for animals. Although this area was once used as a greenhouse business, it has been restored by conservation experts to its natural prairie ecosystem. In the northern corners of Breiter-Palm Park are mesic prairie systems, with soil that remains slightly damp for much of the year but not all year. Only about 2000 acres of original Illinois prairie remain, and prairie restoration helps provide habitat for threatened Illinois plant and animal species.