The park also contains well developed riverine and alluvial hardwood forest, open marshland, and oxbow meadows such as this one.
Much of the park consists of upland oak forest...
...or sandy prairie.
Take a trip to Lick Creek Park and you will see several different
ecosystems and many different plants. The show begins with the drive to
the park. The roadsides of Greens Prairie and Rock Prairie roads are
rich
with wildflowers, especially in spring. Yellow flowered
Thelesperma is very showy.
Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja indivisa, is a familiar sight. The
blossoms are small and greenish; what's showy is the colored bracts
beneath the flowers.
Bull Thistle, Cirsium horridulum, is a plant best appreciated at a
distance. The leaves are unmercifully spiny. The blooms are usually
creamy yellow...
...though pink-flowered plants are common too.
Wooly-white, Hymenopappus, is abundant in mid-spring.
Like other members of the Asteraceae or Sunflower Family (also referred
to as Composites), they produce a head made up of many small flowers or
florets. The heads of Hymenopappus are unusual. They are
composed of entirely of disk florets, but the white phyllaries or bracts
are
petaloid and look like ray florets.
Later in the summer, Buffalo Bur, Solanum rostratum, can be
found. The leaves and calyces are terribly prickly.
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