kidneyleaf rosinweed, Silphium compositum

Silphium creates all sorts of compositions - with leaves. But the flowers all seem much the same. With them, it's up to the photographer to get creative. But then you look close and see those long willy-nilly pistils sticking out, and its's hard not to focus on those. Then your images start to look all the same. Ever feel like you're being manipulated by the flowers? I guess that's what they do, even when you're not a pollinator. The pollinator manipulation here is a little mysterious. Those long pistils from the central flowers are mostly non-functional. The point there seems to be the dark staminate tubes below them. The ray flowers have shorter, bifid, less willy-nilly and more purposeful pistils. This species appears in AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN, VA, and WV. This one was blooming in the rain near where the Appalachian Trail crosses Rt. 19 in Lumpkin Co GA, 7/8/18.