The name I learned for this was Tragopogon sinuatus and had a really difficult time finding that. So today on ATP I've learned what I learned was incorrect and must be unlearned :). I believe it's going to be Tragopogon dubius. Well, at least the Tragopogon part was correct. As you'll see, I don't call it that either, myself. It was several years ago, but it popped up one summer in town in some vacant lots. I don't see it yet in the countryside. It was like a dandelion on steroids! I finally located its common name of 'Noonflower' and also learned that its natural distribution in the U.S. didn't extend to my area of Texas, so I guess it hitchhiked in somehow. Frankly, I'll always call it by the name I gave it before I found the identity - (H)air balls. Those things are really cool. Nearly the size of a softball. The rest of the plant is nondescript, but when the seed head is preparing to disperse they really caught my attention. I was interested in maybe using it as a companion plant in the yard, but never tried. In the search to identify them I learned they were known as salsify and this one has an edible taproot. I haven't tried that, BTW. Here's a photo of the (h)air ball!
As a side note, I uploaded this to the database. How do you get a db photo in a thread. I see here all the time, but I don't know how to do it.
