For information on the flora of wetlands, please refer to the wetland habitat section.

In the riparian zones of creeks, there are wetland plants that are adapted to living in waterlogged soils where the land is low and flat. When this zone is more sloped there are plants adapted to soils that are often wet but not saturated and which may go through dry periods in the summer and winter.

Willow. Photo by Betty Blashill.

Willows (eg. Salix amygdaloides, Peachleaf Willow), dogwoods (eg. Cornus stolonifera, Red Osier Dogwood) and poplars (eg. Populus balsamifera, Balsam Poplar) are woody species able to tolerate these conditions.

Herbaceous plants include grasses, sedges and some oddities like the poisonous Water Hemlock (Cicuta spp.) and the stinky Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).

In the creek itself, plants have a harder time growing in the moving current, so that other than a few large wetland plants such as cattails (Typha spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.) and bulrushes (Scirpus spp.), creeks mainly have smaller plants that are able to hold onto rocks and other material in the water.

Cattails. Photo by Alan Ernst.

Algae are numerous, growing in layers on rocks and wood, sometimes growing in long stringy ribbons that sway in the current. It is these algae that form the basis of the creek food chain, together with particles of other plants, such as leaves, that fall into the stream. Small particles that lie on the bottom of the creek or float in the water are called 'detritus'.