Adrenal glandA small, flattened, yellowish gland on the upper end of each kidney. The right one is roughly triangular. The left is crescent-shaped.
KidneyThe kidney the gland sits on. Adrenal glands get their name from where they sit, by the kidneys.
Suprarenal veinDrains blood, carrying the gland's hormones, away from the gland. The right one runs into the inferior vena cava.
Suprarenal arteriesMany small arteries that bring blood to the gland. They come from the aorta, the inferior phrenic artery and the renal artery.
Inside the gland: 6 6
CapsuleThe thin covering round the outside of the gland.
Adrenal cortexThe outer part of the gland, making up most of it. It makes steroid hormones, including aldosterone and cortisol, in three zones.
Zona glomerulosaThe outermost zone of the cortex, just under the capsule. Its cells are in rounded groups. It makes aldosterone.
Zona fasciculataThe middle and thickest zone of the cortex, its cells in columns. It makes cortisol.
Zona reticularisThe innermost zone of the cortex, in contact with the medulla. Its cells are in an irregular network. It makes androgens.
Adrenal medullaThe soft inner core, full of blood spaces. Its chromaffin cells make adrenaline and noradrenaline.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition (1918), The Suprarenal Glands and figure 1185, https://www.bartleby.com/107/277.html : two small flattened yellowish bodies above and in front of the upper end of each kidney, the right triangular and the left crescentic; the suprarenal vein emerging from the hilum, the right joining the inferior vena cava; arteries from the aorta, the inferior phrenic and the renal; on section an external cortical and an internal medullary portion; the zona glomerulosa beneath the capsule, the zona fasciculata of radial columns, and the zona reticularis in contact with the medulla; the vascular medulla of chromaphil cells concerned with the secretion of adrenalin. (2) Wikipedia, Adrenal gland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_gland : the glands above the kidneys, the right pyramidal and the left crescent-shaped; a fatty capsule; the outer cortex producing steroid hormones in three zones, glomerulosa, fasciculata and reticularis (mineralocorticoids such as aldosterone, glucocorticoids such as cortisol, and androgens); the inner medulla's chromaffin cells producing adrenaline and noradrenaline; the suprarenal veins; up to 60 small arteries entering each gland. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
A sheet for adrenal gland blank labeling. Four lines lead from the upper drawing, the right gland capping its kidney, and six from the lower one, a magnified slice from the outside of the gland to its center.
Read the full guide
Word bank for the ten lines
The gland on its kidney, four: adrenal gland, kidney, suprarenal arteries, suprarenal vein. The slice, six: adrenal cortex, adrenal medulla, capsule, zona fasciculata, zona glomerulosa, zona reticularis.
Where each line ends
Above, the two lines on the right end on the gland and on the vein that leaves it; on the left, the upper line ends on one of three thin arteries. Below, the bracket at the left spans three bands at once, the cortex. The lines on the right go down the slice: the thin strip of the capsule, circles for the rounded cell groups of the zona glomerulosa, straight columns for the zona fasciculata, crossed strokes for the irregular cords of the zona reticularis. The lowest line ends in the medulla.
Drawn with no line: the tall vessel beside the kidney, which is the inferior vena cava, and the notch in the kidney's inner edge.
The answer key prints the three zones without the word zona.
Questions and answers
Why is it called the adrenal gland?
Adrenal comes from the Latin ad, near, and ren, kidney. Suprarenal, the other name for the gland, is built the same way from supra, above.
Where do the right and left suprarenal veins drain?
Not into the same vessel. The right vein, the one on this sheet, opens into the inferior vena cava. The left runs to the left renal vein.
What color is the adrenal gland?
Yellowish on the outside. Cut open, the cortex is a deep yellow, while the medulla at the center is dark red or brown. Those colors suit a sheet that gets colored in.
Does the blank adrenal gland diagram come with an answer key?
Yes. The key is the same sheet with a name at the end of each of the ten lines.