Village Creek is a blackwater

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. It arises in northwestern Hardin County outside the community of Village Mills. Due to the waterway's isolation and absence of impoundments, it is known to be pristine supporting cypress swamps and hardwood forests, as well as many rare and endangered species. It is long and average streamflow at the mouth is approximately . It passes through three conservation areas on the way south, being: the Big Thicket National Preserve - Village Creek Corridor Unit, Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, and Village Creek State Park.

Ecology and Wildlife

Several areas in the creek's drainage are home to arid sandyland habitat dominated by Longleaf Pine (''

Pinus palustris The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

),'' Blue Jack Oak (''

Quercus incana ''Quercus incana'' is a species of oak known by the common names bluejack oak, upland willow oak, sandjack oak, and cinnamon oak. It is native to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States, from Virginia around Florida to Texas and ...

'') and farkleberry (''

Vaccinium arboreum ''Vaccinium arboreum'' (sparkleberry or farkleberry) is a species of ''Vaccinium'' native to the southeastern and south-central United States. Description ''Vaccinium arboreum'' is a shrub (rarely a small tree) growing to , rarely tall, with a ...

''). Large deposits of well draining sand left behind by receding seas contribute to the area's xeric nature. Additionally, lack of nutrients in the substrate causes sparse overstory, leading to higher average temperatures and more dryness. Some common understory plants include the prairie prickly pear cactus ( O''puntia macrorhiza''), Gulf Coast Yucca (''

Yucca louisianensis ''Yucca'' ( , YUCK-uh) is both the scientific name and common name for a genus native to North America from Panama to southern Canada. It contains 50 accepted species. In addition to yucca, they are also known as Adam's needle or Spanish-bayon ...

''), Sandhill sunflower ( ''helianthus debilis'' subsp. ''silvestris''), as well as rare plants such as Oklahoma Prairie Clover
''Dalea villosa'' subsp. ''grisea''
, and the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Texas trailing phlox ( ''Phlox nivalis'' subsp. ''texensis''). Arid Sandyland Habitat - Hardin County Texas

References

External links

Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary

Organisms observed in the preserve
via

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

{{authority control Rivers of Texas Rivers of Hardin County, Texas Geography of Texas Neches River

Ecology and Wildlife

See also

References

External links