• 21 cells
  • Checked October 2026

Blood Cell Formation Diagram

One stem cell at the top, every blood cell at the bottom, and the steps between.

Blood Cell Formation Diagram

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
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Write the name of each numbered cell.Answer key

  1. Blood stem cell
  2. Myeloid stem cell
  3. Lymphoid stem cell
  4. Red blood cell
  5. Platelets
  6. Myeloblast
  7. Lymphoblast
  8. Neutrophil
  9. Eosinophil
  10. Basophil
  11. B lymphocyte
  12. T lymphocyte
  13. Natural killer cell
  14. Proerythroblast
  15. Erythroblast
  16. Reticulocyte
  17. Megakaryoblast
  18. Megakaryocyte
  19. Monoblast
  20. Monocyte
  21. Macrophage

Own chart from plain geometry, 2026-10-01. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a cell is answered.

Next step Next: the finished cells on a blood smear

All 21 cells on the diagram

Show the list

Main lines 13

  1. Blood stem cell Can become every kind of blood cell.
  2. Myeloid stem cell Gives rise to red blood cells, platelets and granulocytes.
  3. Lymphoid stem cell Gives rise to lymphocytes and natural killer cells.
  4. Red blood cell The finished cell that carries oxygen in the blood.
  5. Platelets Cell fragments that help blood to clot.
  6. Myeloblast An immature white blood cell that becomes a granulocyte.
  7. Lymphoblast An immature cell that becomes a lymphocyte.
  8. Neutrophil One of the three granulocytes that form from a myeloblast.
  9. Eosinophil One of the three granulocytes that form from a myeloblast.
  10. Basophil One of the three granulocytes that form from a myeloblast.
  11. B lymphocyte A lymphocyte that forms from a lymphoblast.
  12. T lymphocyte A lymphocyte that forms from a lymphoblast.
  13. Natural killer cell A white blood cell that forms from a lymphoblast.

Stage by stage 8

  1. Proerythroblast The first stage of the red blood cell line.
  2. Erythroblast A red cell precursor that still has its nucleus.
  3. Reticulocyte An immature red blood cell.
  4. Megakaryoblast A precursor of the megakaryocyte.
  5. Megakaryocyte A very large bone marrow cell that sheds platelets.
  6. Monoblast A precursor of the monocyte.
  7. Monocyte Travels in the blood, then becomes a macrophage in tissue.
  8. Macrophage Surrounds and kills microorganisms and removes dead cells.

How this list was compiled: Every name and every arrow checked on 2026-10-01 and kept only where two independent sources agree. (1) US National Cancer Institute, Dictionary of Cancer Terms: blood stem cell, myeloblast, lymphoblast, granulocyte, monocyte, macrophage, natural killer cell and the figure Blood cell development (blood stem cell; myeloid stem cell to red blood cell, platelet or myeloblast and then granulocytes; lymphoid stem cell to lymphoblast and then B lymphocyte, T lymphocyte or natural killer cell), https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/blood-stem-cell . (2) Wikipedia, Haematopoiesis, Hematopoietic stem cell, Erythropoiesis, Proerythroblast, Reticulocyte, Megakaryoblast, Megakaryocyte, Monoblast, Myeloblast and Lymphoblast, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haematopoiesis . (3) For the stages in between, passages found by archive.org's full-text search: Hematology: Clinical Principles and Applications (2007), https://archive.org/details/hematologyclinic0000unse_j5d4 (myeloid and lymphoid stem cells, megakaryoblast, monoblast, myeloblast, megakaryocytes); Histology and Cell Biology (2002), https://archive.org/details/histologycellbio0000kier (proerythroblast, erythroblast, reticulocyte). Only the names and order of normal cells were taken from these. Licence: own work

The drawing: Own chart from plain geometry, 2026-10-01; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This blood cell formation diagram is a tree. The blood stem cell of bone marrow sits at the top, and each line down is one path of blood cell development. A second view adds the stages in between.

Read the full guide

The main lines

The blood stem cell, also called the hematopoietic stem cell, gives rise to a myeloid stem cell and a lymphoid stem cell. The myeloid stem cell becomes a red blood cell, platelets or a myeloblast, and the myeloblast becomes a neutrophil, an eosinophil or a basophil. The lymphoid stem cell becomes a lymphoblast, then a B lymphocyte, a T lymphocyte or a natural killer cell.

Stage by stage

The second tree shows blood cell maturation on three myeloid lines: proerythroblast, erythroblast and reticulocyte on the way to a red blood cell; megakaryoblast and megakaryocyte before platelets; monoblast, monocyte and macrophage.

  • A name ending in -blast is an early, immature cell; -cyte is a later one.

Questions and answers

What is hematopoiesis?

The formation of new blood cells. In an adult it takes place in the bone marrow, where blood stem cells divide and their daughter cells mature step by step into red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells.

Which blood cells come from the myeloid stem cell?

Red blood cells, platelets and the granulocytes: neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils. Monocytes, which become macrophages, are myeloid cells too. Lymphocytes and natural killer cells come from the lymphoid stem cell.

Where do platelets come from?

From megakaryocytes, very large cells of the bone marrow. Platelets are small pieces of a megakaryocyte, not whole cells.

What cells are in a bone marrow cell diagram?

The blood-forming cells of this tree: blood stem cells, the myeloid and lymphoid stem cells, the blasts and the maturing cells of each line.

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