• 10 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Lymph Node Diagram

A lymph node cut in half, from the vessels coming in to the vessel going out.

Lymph Node Diagram

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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Capsule
  2. Trabeculae
  3. Lymph sinus
  4. Cortex
  5. Follicles
  6. Germinal centers
  7. Medulla
  8. Afferent lymph vessels
  9. Efferent lymph vessel
  10. Artery and vein

Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. 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 part is answered.

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All 10 parts on the diagram

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  1. Capsule The fibrous covering round the whole node.
  2. Trabeculae Strands of the capsule that reach into the node. They divide it up and carry its blood vessels.
  3. Lymph sinus The channel just under the capsule that lymph enters first. From there it passes through the node towards the medulla. Also called the subcapsular sinus.
  4. Cortex The outer, paler part of the node, where the follicles are.
  5. Follicles Round clusters of lymph cells in the cortex.
  6. Germinal centers The paler centers in the follicles. They form when the node is fighting an infection. Lymph cells multiply there.
  7. Medulla The inner, darker part of the node. It has cords of cells and sinuses that collect the lymph before it leaves.
  8. Afferent lymph vessels They bring lymph into the node. They enter all round its rounded side. Their valves keep the lymph flowing one way.
  9. Efferent lymph vessel It carries lymph out of the node. It leaves at the hilum, the dent on its side.
  10. Artery and vein The artery brings blood in and the vein takes it out. Both are at the hilum.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition (1918), The Lymphatic System, https://www.bartleby.com/107/175.html : small oval or bean-shaped glands with a hilus through which the bloodvessels enter and leave and the efferent vessel emerges, the afferent vessels entering at different parts of the periphery; a fibrous capsule sending trabeculae inward; an external lighter cortical and an internal darker medullary portion; follicles, and germ centers; the lymph path or lymph sinus. (2) Wikipedia, Lymph node, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymph_node : a kidney-shaped organ enclosed in a fibrous capsule extending inside as trabeculae, with an outer cortex and an inner medulla; follicles and germinal centres; the subcapsular sinus lymph enters first; multiple afferent lymphatic vessels on the convex side; the efferent vessels leaving at the hilum, where blood vessels enter and leave. 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 lymph node diagram labeled: one bean-shaped node cut in half, with its rounded side to the left and the dent where vessels come and go, the hilum, on the right.

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Lymph in, lymph out

Lymph arrives through several afferent vessels all round the rounded side and runs first into the lymph sinus under the capsule. It passes through the node to the medulla and leaves by the efferent vessel at the hilum, where the artery and vein also enter and leave.

Inside

The capsule sends trabeculae inward. The outer cortex holds the follicles, which grow paler germinal centres during an infection. The medulla in the middle collects the lymph before it leaves.

  • Afferent vessels come in; efferent vessels exit. Lymph enters all round the rounded side and leaves at the hilum.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a lymph node?

A fibrous capsule, an outer cortex with follicles, an inner medulla, and the lymph sinuses the lymph flows through, with afferent vessels in and an efferent vessel out.

What is the difference between afferent and efferent lymph vessels?

Afferent vessels bring lymph into the node, all round its rounded side. The efferent vessel carries it out, at the hilum.

What is the hilum of a lymph node?

The dent on one side of the node, where the efferent lymph vessel leaves and the blood vessels enter and leave.

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