EditorialDr. Naomi Fraga, a botanist with the nonprofit California Botanic Garden, drives her Toyota Tacoma along a dirt path in Kern County, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Daniel Dorsa/The New York Times)
EditorialDr. Naomi Fraga, a botanist with the nonprofit California Botanic Garden, drives her Toyota Tacoma along a dirt path in Kern County, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Daniel Dorsa/The New York Times)
EditorialDr. Naomi Fraga, a botanist with the nonprofit California Botanic Garden, drives her Toyota Tacoma along a dirt path in Kern County, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Daniel Dorsa/The New York Times)
EditorialDr. Naomi Fraga, a botanist with the nonprofit California Botanic Garden, drives her Toyota Tacoma along a dirt path in Kern County, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Daniel Dorsa/The New York Times)
EditorialDr. Naomi Fraga, a botanist with the nonprofit California Botanic Garden, drives her Toyota Tacoma along a dirt path in Kern County, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Daniel Dorsa/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialRancher's fireweed wildflowers grow at Carrizo Plain National Monument in Santa Margarita, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Stella Kalinina/The New York Times)
EditorialWildflowers on the beach at Kaikoura, a town whose name means “eat crayfish” in the Maori language, in New Zealand, December 2022. (Susan Wright/The New York Times)