Anyone recognize this one?

[your_comforting_company]

Not in my books and I'm not sure exactly how to classify it into a family.
At first glance it would appear to be in the aster family, but I'm pretty sure it's not because it isn't a composite "head". Let me see if I can describe it...

Flowers occur in clusters subtended by a whorl of leaves. Here is a cluster of calices (calyx).
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Each one opens and appears to have 20 seperate petals, but you gotta look closely!! Each calyx actually opens to have 4 flowers with 5 petals each, and while they are mostly seperate, they are united about halfway up the corolla, i.e. if you try to pull off one small petal, the whole flower comes out. The ovary is inferior, i.e. below the point of attachment of the reproductive parts.
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leaves and stems are pubescent on both sides. Leaves are dark green above and much lighter underneath. Leaves are deeply veined.
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The plant is dichotomously branched (forked or "y-ed" in pairs) and stems are very pubescent also.
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Leaves alternate, but most are basal, and clasping with no petiole at the nodes (where it branches).
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I can't find this in my books, and don't know where to start looking online. Any help is much appreciated. There is no milky sap (it's clear).
Thanks in advance!

[LowKey]

Does only a single tubular flower come out of each set of bracts below it?
How many bracts?
Do the individual flowers really have that 5-petal irregular shape?
You're south of Georgia too, right, so I probably can't help you out.
It looks like a really furry Lychnis of some kind but the flowers not quite what it should be for a Caryophyllaceae, I dunno...

[your_comforting_company]

hmm.. there are 4 flowers that come from each calyx, and there is a cluster of calyces in a head.
typically I see 3 or 4 bracts, but some only have 2 and the bigger heads have more. Not sure the number of subtending leaves will be much help.
Individual flowers are one-sided.. irregular and 5 petals on one side.. so that all 4 flowers together make the petal array..
It's a strange one and I'm not sure how to classify it, but I'll check the lychnis..
thunder and lightning are starting up again so I gotta turn off the computer! I'll check back later, I'm going to go enjoy the rain!

[LowKey]

I'm off base with the Caryophylaceae. While they look similar, the petals are split on a single flower . This has four blossoms from the same calyx...It could be a strap-form composite but not like any I can find. It looks familiar but isn't. Sorry.

[your_comforting_company]

Thanks for the help. My mom picked up a wildflower book yesterday and I went through it pretty quickly and didn't come across this plant. I checked caryo, scrophula, and several other families in the little while she spent with us yesterday. Short of looking at every picture in the book, I didn't find it.
Thanks for the help my friend. I'll keep digging!
It's a remarkably attractive plant growing right by my doorstep. It greets me with a few smiling blooms every morning and brings me a smile. Even if I can't give it a name, I can still smile when my eyes fall on it.

[your_comforting_company]

found it.
http://www.missouriplants.com/Blueal...anus_page.html

[your_comforting_company]

If anyone stumbles across the usability and toxicity information for this plant, let me know. It appears to be widespread across the southeast US, but the information about the plant is not. I went through a few google pages last night, but didn't find what I was looking for.
TIA!

It sure took a long time to figure this one out. A few things I'd like to point out, is that the information says it has no ray flowers, though each of the irregularly lobed flowers appears to be creating rays. No, they are disc flowers... go figure. The head is unlike most aster plants in that the whole head doesn't bloom at one time, nope, only one "bud" in the head opens at a time.
Of all the possibilities, Aster was the last one I would have thought.. guess it goes to show you that most times you gotta go with your gut feelings. In my OP I said I thought it was an aster, yet for some dumb reason beyond my reckoning, I checked aster LAST, hahaha!
It sounds crazy, but I like having this plant around, whether I can use it or not. It's a good example of one of those plants that throws you for a loop, just when you thought you had it all figured out... that and it's really pretty!

Usually at dawn, there are no flowers, or only flowers that have wilted from yesterday's blooming, by 10 am new flowers have appeared and are opening. By 12, they are all open, and by 4, they begin wilting and closing up again. It likes the shade as much as I do this time of year.

anyhow, I will be searching for more info on this plant and if anyone stumbles across info for elephantopus, pass it my way. The only thing I can find so far is a chloroform extraction that has antitumor activity. To me this would indicate that it might be a good treatment for "lady" problems, like cysts (I won't go into all that...)