A Field in Fall

I went to a small astronomy conference today, out in Stonybrook.  It was held in an interesting natural park, that happens to have two astronomical observatories on the property.  I was standing on the porch of one of the observatories and it looks out over this field.  I don't know what was growing in this field - the plants are as high as four feet tall.  I was amazed at the beautiful fall colors of the fading plants.

I decided to take a close-up of the remains of the flowers to show how beautiful they are, and also to see if any of you have any idea what plants these are.  I really do love the subtle colors of fall.