spermoderm

plural spermoderms

1. archaicbiologyA seed coat or testa.

   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

   1 more example

   […] 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