We have observed extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) “line-free” continuum emission from laser plasmas of high atomic number elements using targets irradiated with 248 nm laser pulses of 7 ps duration at a power density of∼1013 W/cm2. Using both dispersive spectroscopy and streak camera detection, the spectral and temporal evolution of XUV continuum emission for several target atomic numbers has been measured on a time scale with an upper limit of several hundred picoseconds limited by amplified spontaneous emission. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.