Village Creek is a blackwater

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage ...

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 (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, 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, from southern Virginia west to southeastern Nebraska, south to Florida and eastern Texas, and north to ...

''). 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 flaccida'', commonly called Adam's needle or weak-leaf yucca, is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family (biology), family (Asparagaceae). It is native plant, native to south-central and southeastern North America, from the l ...

''), 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 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 found elsew ...

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

Village Creek near Silsbee, Texas (25648007622)

References

Rivers of Texas

External Links

Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sancturary

Organisms observed in the preserve
via

iNaturalist iNaturalist is a 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 website or from its mobile applic ...

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

Ecology and Wildlife

See also

References

External Links