Our arid region trains us to accept austerity, starkness. But it also prepares us to greet with special wonder any exception to the desert rule: a spring-fed pool, a soaking rain, a wildflower in bloom. Easterners can take wildflowers for granted. Here, their beauty is well-won.

LeShara Nieland, a botanist and Big Spring native, has written two wildflower books. They're user-friendly guides. They also tell rich stories about each plant – including their history of use by Native Americans. For Native societies, wildflowers are elements of survival – sources of food, fiber, dye and medicine.

It's all too common to underestimate the sophistication of earlier peoples. But any study of ...