Flower Vs. Power

摘要

Whatever violence occurred in the midsummer heat on that lonely white hill in Nevada, there was no one around to see it. By the time Naomi Fraga got there in mid-September, the air had cooled and investigators had already visited the scene. But evidence of a massacre remained: Where there had once been plants, there were now hundreds of empty holes. A few mangled stems, severed from their roots, lay half buried in the chalky dirt. What alarmed Fraga more than the dead or missing was the selective way they had been targeted. The white hill stood atop a high desert ridge that was once part of an ancient caldera, and it was home to a wide variety of Great Basin flora. There were various species, including saltbushes and sagebrush. But only one appeared to have fallen victim to the unseen attack-a buckwheat. As she walked around, Fraga's first reaction was disbelief. What, or who, had it out for this particular plant?