Beth Leger, a plant ecologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, opens the door to a campus greenhouse where she and graduate assistant Jamey McClinton, left, are growing Tiehm's buckwheat in this photo taken on Feb. 10, 2020 in Reno, Nevada. Their research is funded by an Australian mining company that wants to mine lithium in the high desert 200 miles southeast of Reno, the only place the rare wildflower is known to exist in the world. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)
March 7, 2020
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March 7, 2020 1:26 p.m.
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RENO, Nev. (AP) — The rare Tiehm's buckwheat stands less than a foot tall (30 centimeters) in Nevada's rocky high desert, its thin, leafless stems adorned with tiny yellow flowers in spring.