PLAISTOW, N.H. (AP) – Last week’s strong winds brought down the state’s largest larch tree, which filled up John Hallahan’s front yard.

“The yard is all tree,” Hallahan said, looking out over his Linden Lane yard.

Sixteen years ago, the European larch tree was named the largest of its species in the state. At that time, it measured 11 feet, 11 inches around the trunk at 4 feet, 6 inches from the ground, the standard measuring point. It was 93 feet tall, with a 67-foot crown.

It almost topped the national list, but was narrowly edged out by a Vermont tree using a complicated formula entailing various additional measurements. Hallahan’s tree came in at 251 points to the Vermont tree’s 262 points.

The age of the tree is unknown, but a historical society publication indicates it might have been the parent tree planted by William Hills, who took sprigs in the late 1800s to plant the many larch trees that stand in town, as noted in his diaries.

The same publication suggested the tree might even have been planted by Hill’s father soon after he moved to Plaistow in 1813.

The European is the largest of the larch species and closely related to the tamarack. A deciduous conifer, it has soft flat needles that grow in bright green in the spring, then turn gold and drop in the autumn.

A native of northern and central Europe, it was introduced into the United States in the late 1700s as an ornamental tree.

AP-ES-11-17-03 0809EST