A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Testa, test, seed-coat, episperm: the hard outer coat of a seed from the integuments of the ovule, lit. 'a piece of burned clay;’ also the shell of a snail; “the skin of a seed” (Lindley); “the outer coat of a seed, usu. hard and brittle” (Jackson); testa,-ae (s.f.I), abl.sg. testa, nom. pl. testae, acc. pl.testas, dat. & abl. pl. testis; epispermium (s.n.II), abl. sg. episperio; also perisperm, q.v.; also spermoderm, q.v. [> L. testa,-ae (s.f.I), “a piece of burned clay, a brick, tile, Gk. Ostracon; a piece of baked earthen-ware, an earthen pot, pitcher, jug, urn, etc.; a broken piece of pottery; a sherd, potsherd; a piece of bone; the shell of shell-fish or of testaceous animals; a shell-fish; a shell or covering; the skull” (Lewis & Short); “the hard outer covering of a crustacean, snail, etc., shell” (Glare); see brick, tile; see seedcoat; see integument (Eng.noun).

NOTE: not to be confused with testis,-is (m./f.III), abl. sg. teste, q.v.

- cochleae (gen.sg. of cochlea) testa, shell of a snail.

- testas atque ossa de cibo pisculento excerpens, (selectively) taking or picking out the shells and bones from seafood (fishy food).

- seminum testa in alam expansa, the seedcoat of the seeds expanded into a wing.

- testa duplex, utraque saepissime membranacea, test (outer seed coat) double, each one most often membranaceous.

- testa membranacea saepeque pericarpio adhaerente, rarius crassiore (B&H), test membranaceous and often with the pericarp adhering, more rarely thicker.

- hyphae vegetativae in interstitiis inter cellulas vaginae foliaris et medulla caulis reproductivi et testa seminum intima inventae, vegetative hyphae found in the interstices within cells of the leaf sheath and the pith of the reproductive stem and the innermost seed coat.

- semina cum testa leniter tuberculata, tunica alba elastica circumdata, seeds with the testa finely tuberculate, surrounded by a white rubbery coating.

- semen globulare vel ellipsoideum, arillodio vel sarcotesta carens, testa ossea, hilo lineari, see globular or ellipsoid, lacking an arillode or sarcotesta, with the testa bony, with the hilum linear.

- testa subcoriacea papillosa, in exemplaribus omnibus nobis visis vacua, seedcoat subcoriaceous papillose, empty in all specimens seen by us.

- semina perplurima, conferta, parva, 2-seriata, testa echinulata (B&H), seeds very many, packed, small, in 2 rows, with the seedcoat with very small prickles.