English

Noun

spermoderm ‎(plural spermoderms)

1. (botany) A seed coat or testa.
   • 1835, John Lindley, A Key to Structural, Physiological, and Systematic Botany, Longman et al. (publishers), page 35:

     In the seed these membranes are called by various names, of which the most frequently used are spermoderm or testa for the primine; mesosperm, for the secondine; and endopleura for the other.

   • 1851, John Hutton Balfour, Manual of Botany, Second Edition, John Joseph Griffin and Co., page 275:

     […] The general covering of the seed is called spermoderm (σπέρμα, seed, and δέρμα, covering). […] The Spermoderm usually consists of two parts, an external membrane, called the episperm or testa (ἐπί, upon, or on the outside, and σπέρμα, a seed, or testa, a shell), and an internal membrane, called endopleura (ἔνδον, within, and πλευρά, side).

Usage notes

• This term is no longer in common use; the currently preferred term is testa.