Nearly 400-year-old

Maine tree topples

LEEDS, Maine — A tree thought to be nearly 400 years old has toppled to the ground in Maine.

A silver maple that measured more than 26 feet around its trunk was found fallen along the Androscoggin River in Leeds on June 30.

Leeds dairy farmer John Nutting said he was stunned when he discovered the tree on its side.

State foresters dated the tree to between 1620 and 1650 after Nutting’s stepfather discovered it in 1980.

The Maine Register of Trees says it had a base circumference of 26.3 feet when last measured in 1999, giving it a wider girth than any other tree on the register.

Nutting said he suspects heavy rains this spring saturated the soil around the tree, causing it to fall.