Tallgrass prairies are an extremely complicated web of life. At first sight, one sees a landscape dominated by grasses. Eighty percent of the foliage is indeed made up of grasses, from 40 to 60 different species. The other 20% of the primary vegetation is made up of over 300 species of forbs or flowers. The prairie also has over 100 species of lichens and liverworts as well as numerous species of woody trees and shrubs along creeks and protected areas. Prairie landscapes vary in soil types and depth, moisture, and slope. This creates many different situations and niches for specific plant communities to fit into. For example, in the wet seeps, sedges and prairie cord grass thrive but bluestem and buffalo grass would drown. In the bottomland prairie areas, different grasses and flowers grow. Species that require more moisture and deeper soils thrive in the bottomland. On the other hand on the dry, shallow, wind-blown hilltops, the drought hardy hairy grama thrives.