I just read through this long topic and in a couple of places Norway spruce was mentioned. A study was done at SUNY Syracuse a few years ago to determine the growth curves for Norway spruce in unthinned stands in New York State. They analyzed a large number of stands on a variety of soils (somewhere between 50 and 100 if I remember right). They "destructively sampled" a large number of the tallest trees and plotted their growth, taking into account the number of times the trees had been weeviled and/or had other kinds of injuries. Anyway, to reduce a long and thorough study to the bare essentials, on the best sites trees that were 4.5 feet tall at a starting point were about 115 feet tall after 50 more years. The starting point of 4.5 feet was selected because the time it takes to get to that height was affected by many unpredictable factors such as weed competition, etc. that it couldn't reasonably be factored in. I have done my own measurements on a small number of stands in MD and WV and have found some that exceed those in NY by a small margin, the best being a little over 120 feet in 50 years after the 4.5 foot height was achieved. It is my general impression that if the best strains were grown on the best soils, the growth would be somewhat better than 120 feet. Almost all the spruce stands I have found have been growing on class three forest soils, whereas class 2 soils are fairly common in this region. To explain just a bit, on a class 3 forest soil red oak will grow to 65 or 75 feet in fifty years, on a class two soil, 75 to 85 feet. So the importance of soil quality is rather great in determining the potential growth of trees. Class 1 soils are fairly rare in this region and tend to be bottomland soils suited to a limited number of species. The one thing that really struck me about these growth curves determined by the folks at SUNY Syracuse is that unlike the growth curves of virtually all other species that I have seen growing in the Eastern U.S., these growth curves were not really "curves" at all, but rather straight lines that as they left the graph at the 50 year mark were showing an undiminished rate of growth. Other growth curves show a "curve" that shows decelerating growth at that point. But, based on my own observations, the growth rate of Norway spruce does start to diminish fairly soon after the 50 year mark. I haven't seen the growth curves for redwoods and other western species, but I would assume that they use a 100 year time frame and must be something really impressive. My guess is that the best Norway spruce growing on the best soils in forest stands in the Allegheny region would eventually get somewhere close to 200 feet, about the same as in the best stands in Europe. The oldest spruce I have seen here are somewhere near 150 feet now and are growing, in one case, 6 to 10 inches per year at 100 years old (Rothkugel), and in another 12 to 20 inches per year at 73 years old (Glady), but both of these are on class 3 soils. --Spruce

Thanks for your comments James. Yes the view from the very top is magnificent, but nowadays hiking to the top of the crater is not allowed as the government is concerned about protecting the fragile environment of the area. I have seen photos from a friend who hiked to the summit in 1979 and yes you could see some of the other Canary Islands in the distance. I wish I could have done it myself, although I'm not a great hiker. My brother did go to the top when he came to visit us years ago and he videotaped as he walked. He was puffing and gasping as he filmed as the air was quite thin and full of sulphur fumes. At the base of the cable car there are warning signs that persons with breathing or cardiac problems should not take the cable car up to the base of the cone. Here's a link below to a site which has some lovely photos taken around and up the volcano. SharonCb Here is a link that might be useful: Hiking Photos of Teide

Jwm211, here is the recipe. I use fresh grated Reggiano Parmesan and haven't had a problem with it sticking. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Parmesan-Coated Sweet Potato Fries ================================== http://www.wholeliving.com Serves 4; Prep time: 15 minutes; Total time 40 minutes 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper 2 large egg whites 1 1/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese 4 small sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), scrubbed and quartered lengthwise (I peel the potatoes) Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and then set aside. In a shallow bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and pepper. In a separate shallow bowl, lightly beat the egg whites with 2 tablespoons of water until combined. Place the Parmesan on a sheet of waxed paper or put it in another shallow bowl. Dip the sweet potato first in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. Then dip each wedge into the egg white mixture until coated. Finally, dip the sweet potato in the Parmesan, pressing the exposed surface of the potato into the cheese. (Don't worry if some gets on the skin.) Transfer potato wedges onto the prepared baking sheet as you go. Bake potatoes until tender and crisp, about 25 minutes. Serve sprinkled with more salt if desired.

SANSEVIERIA LIST As of March 2015 Russ Species and hybrids 'Alva' trifasciata X deserti - Koko Crater, Hawaii arborescens - rcvd as “cylindrica v. patula aubrytiana bagamoyensis – rcvd as arborescens bandipur ballyi bella Blue Hybrid – USDA fiber research program, 1950s canaliculata canaliculata dwarf caulescens cf. caulescens - Lav & Bleck, Bura, Kenya 4/1981 concinna concinna Lake Sibaya - Natal, Dave Hardy 19874 (1977) concinna Sudwalla Caves concinna Lav 5933 -F/C 20 km w. of Vilanculos, Mozambique, sp. Socotra Dwarf concinna Lav 5949 concinna sp. Socotra -not dwarf concinna sp. - US Botanic Garden cylindrica v. cylindrica dawei – deserti (have?) deserti F-1 hybrid – Grigsby Cactus Nursery 9/1998 dooneri downsii downsii – GC 78-126 Philip Downs (broken label: …......ett) (illeg: ...mawi) ehrenbergii elliptica (sp. Horwood, sp. 22830, FKH 424) erythraea (schweinfurthii) fasciata fischeri (singularis) fischeri X kirkii – Vivaio Brookside Nursery, Spain francisii frequens grandis gracilis Pfennig's form hallii hallii Blue Form (Blue Bat) hallii Lundi (Lundi Bat) cf. hallii D. McMurtry, Lundi River Heidelberg seedling - GC 22836 Grigsby Cactus Nursery, CA javanica Striated Koko – E. E.'s Koko (Ed Eby) - probably from Huntington Bot Gdn CA 1999 kirkii v. pulchra kirkii v. Superclone – Huntington BG, CA kirkii v. Coppertone Leopard Bat – fischeri X (raffillii?) Leopard Bat – fischeri X (raffillii?) Manny Singer, Huntington BG 10/2007 liberica liberica – CSSA seed depot sowed 2/06, liberica mix open-pollinated Hawaii LK - my code name, this is probably dooneri Malawi Midnight - sp. ES 21027, Poland Masai Midnight Fountain – Originally recved as Midnight Star masoniana Mason Congo GC 78-133 Grigsby Cactus Nursery, CA metallica (guineensis) Manolyn metallica (guineensis) Siam Silver - In my opinion, same as Manolyn. metallica (guineensis) San Remo aka Smoked Sausage - rcvd as trifasciata aurea metallica (guineensis) White Striped Giant nilotica v. obscura Old Man Silver - trifasciata X deserti - (Fla H-13) Huntington BG, CA 1999 pearsoni UCD-B73-064 HBG 61036, Rodin 9259 Dramboland, S. Africa patens patens – US Botanic Garden pinguicula parva – 5/2004 parva Gilt-Edge Parva Wide Leaf phillipsiae - Tenerife Spain, Botanic Garden Puerto De La Cruz raffillii raffillii – Endangered Species Nursery, AB.ED, probably Huntington BG,1999 robusta robusta - Tenerife Spain 5/2004 roxburghiana – Univ of Fla at Tampa Botanic Garden Sale rhodesiana - Vivaio Brookside Italy, IX 2008 ex VBN (salig) sambiranensis scimitariformis - Vivaio Brookside, Italy SA124 senegambica – 9/2007 sinus-simiorum - 7/2006 stuckyi (mutant) - 1998 stuckyi – Tenerife Spain 5/2004 subsipicata Stellette (hybrid w/trifasciata) Screen Door trifasciata X deserti - (Fla H-13) Huntington BG, Calif 1999 suffruticosa suffruticosa Frosty Spears - (possibly) 4/2006 suffruticosa-type – rcvd as Fruticosa Linden, more robust than suffruticosa Tarzana? – 5/2008, looks like fischeri trifasciata trif. Bantel's Sensation trif. Black Sport trif. Black Gold trif. Craigii trif. Futura trif. Gilt-Edge – 1998 trif. Gray Lady (Silver Princess in Europe) – 1998 trif. Hahnii Jade Dwarf trif. Hahnii Jade Dwarf Marginated trif. Hahnii Marginated trif. Hahnii Seibert trif. Laurentii trif. Laurentii Compacta trif. Lillian True trif. Manda's Dwarf Appears to be regular trifasciata trif. Slimmerette (supposedly) Bob Smoley Nursery FL trif. Sunrise trif. Wagner's Gold – 1998 Tugela River Valley Tom Grumbley - Vivaio Brookside, Spain SA153 10/2009 USDA 19522 trifasciata X deserti - AW 1998, USDA fiber research prog 1950s USDA 19537 trifasciata X deserti - AW 1998, USDA fiber research prog 1950s volkensii (intermedia) Huntington BG, CAHBG 61071 zanzibarica – 9/2002 (name is illegitimate, possibly robusta) Unidentified or Undescribed Species sp. 21027 – Poland sp. Lav 23242 – Somalia, 3 km s. of Balal, n. of Mozambique (prop leaf only) sp. Lav & BC – SWA w. foot of Grootberg Pass, Damaraland sp. Chimanimani Mountains – 4/2006 sp. Kitonga –ES 20424, Tanzania, Iringa Province, Kitonga Gorge 10/09 sp. Chahinian 549 (A-15) – rcvd as Chahinian 15, Huntington BG CA Note: 'A' is designation for Juan Chahinian's 1st trip to Africa (Kenya) sp. FN 2409 sp. PF 1056 – IX 108, Poland 5/2009 sp. ES 22269 – aff bella, Ernst Specks, Mbeya Province, Tanzania Poland sp. Uganda sp. Nova ES 14826 - 2009 sp. ES 20122, E. Specks, Tanzania, 2006 sp. 23251 – rorida type sp. The Dyke – 3/2008 sp. ES 21847 – 5/2009, Poland sp. ES 22575 – Tanzania, n. of Sumbawanga, locality 43-36, Poland sp. ES 15950 – Cradock, RSA, poss form of aethiopica/scabrifolia, Poland 10/09 sp. SNRS 19499 – 4/2006 sp. 19525 – 5/2008 sp. R2470 – similar to hallii, see Journal 6, Henny Vanderwaal, Poland 9/2009 scimitariformis – Viaio Brookside Nursery, Italy, label says SA 123, (...illegible..) Fikizola crossing. Unidentified, 10/2005 ex collector/trader in Guatamala.