Bot. [ad. mod.L. spermophorum or a. F. spermophore: see SPERMO- and -PHORE.] The placenta in plants. Also Spermophyte Bot., a seed-bearing plant. Spermophytic a., ‘capable of producing true seeds’ (1891 Cent. Dict.). Spermospore Phys., a compound cellular mass from which sperm filaments are developed. Spermotoxin Chem., a serum destructive to spermatozoa.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 283. The placenta is called by Schleiden the *spermophore.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Spermophyte,… a plant producing true seeds.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 245. From these cells the spermatozoa appear to be formed by subdivision of the nucleus of each *spermospore.
1902. Brit. Med. Jrnl., 12 April, 920. Metchnikoff [deals] with *spermotoxins and leucotoxins.
