Dictionary

spermoderm en · NOUN

Etymology

From spermo- + -derm.

Meanings

1. (archaic) A seed coat or testa.
   • […] 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). 1851, John Hutton Balfour, Manual of Botany, Second Edition, John Joseph Griffin and Co., page 275
   • 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. 1835, John Lindley, A Key to Structural, Physiological, and Systematic Botany, Longman et al. (publishers), page 35:

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