• 12 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Lymphatic Capillary Diagram

Where lymphatic capillaries start among the blood capillaries, and how their wall lets fluid in.

Lymphatic Capillary Diagram

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Lymphatic capillary
  2. Closed end (blind end)
  3. Blood capillaries
  4. Arteriole
  5. Venule
  6. Tissue cells
  7. Lymphatic vessel
  8. Endothelial cell
  9. One-way valve (overlapping edges)
  10. Anchoring filaments
  11. Interstitial fluid
  12. Lymph

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. 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.

Next step Next: the lymph node the vessels lead to

All 12 parts on the diagram

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Capillary bed 7

  1. Lymphatic capillary The smallest kind of lymphatic vessel. It picks up fluid from the tissue.
  2. Closed end (blind end) A lymphatic capillary starts at a closed tip. No vessel feeds into it.
  3. Blood capillaries The net of tiny blood vessels between an arteriole and a venule.
  4. Arteriole A very small artery. It carries blood into the capillaries.
  5. Venule A very small vein. It collects blood from the capillaries.
  6. Tissue cells The cells of the tissue. Interstitial fluid fills the spaces between them.
  7. Lymphatic vessel A larger vessel formed where lymphatic capillaries merge. It has valves.

The wall 5

  1. Endothelial cell A thin, flat cell of the wall. The wall is a single layer of them.
  2. One-way valve (overlapping edges) Where the edges of two wall cells overlap. The inner edge swings in and lets fluid enter.
  3. Anchoring filaments Fine filaments that tie the wall cells to the surrounding tissue.
  4. Interstitial fluid The fluid between the cells of a tissue. Here it flows into the lymphatic capillary.
  5. Lymph The fluid inside the vessel. Interstitial fluid is called lymph once it is inside.

How this list was compiled: Every name read on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two independent sources give it. (1) Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body (1918, public domain), The Lymphatic System, https://www.theodora.com/anatomy/the_lymphatic_system.html : lymphatic capillaries as a single layer of thin flat endothelial cells in the tissue spaces, with blind ends. (2) Wikipedia, text only: Lymph capillary, Lymphatic vessel and Lymph, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymph_capillary : closed ends among the blood capillaries, overlapping endothelial cells that open like a one-way door, anchoring filaments, lymph. (3) U.S. National Cancer Institute, SEER Training Modules, Components of the Lymphatic System, https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/lymphatic/components/ , and Classification and Structure of Blood Vessels, https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/cardiovascular/blood/classification.html : blind-ended lymph capillaries, cells that overlap to form a one-way valve, interstitial fluid called lymph once inside, capillaries merging into lymphatic vessels with valves; arterioles, capillaries and venules. (4) Liu and Yu, a review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2022), open access, https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC9267103 : blind-ended lymphatic capillaries, the overlapping arrangement of their cells and the anchoring filaments. The drawing is our own. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing traced or copied. Not to scale. Licence: own work

How it works

Lymphatic capillaries are the smallest lymphatic vessels. The first drawing shows them starting as closed tips among the blood capillaries of a tissue. The second enlarges one tip to show how fluid gets in and becomes lymph.

Read the full guide

Capillary bed

Blood comes in by an arteriole, spreads through the net of blood capillaries and leaves by a venule. The lymphatic capillaries start among them at closed ends and merge into a larger lymphatic vessel.

The wall

The wall is a single layer of thin endothelial cells whose edges overlap. When pressure outside is higher, an inner edge swings in like a one-way door and interstitial fluid enters. Once inside, the fluid is called lymph. Anchoring filaments tie the cells to the tissue around them.

  • A blood capillary links two vessels; a lymphatic capillary starts at a closed end.

Questions and answers

What is the structure of a lymphatic capillary?

A thin tube with a closed end. Its wall is a single layer of flat endothelial cells whose edges overlap, and anchoring filaments tie those cells to the surrounding tissue.

How does fluid enter a lymphatic capillary?

The overlapping edges of the wall cells act as one-way valves. When pressure in the interstitial fluid is higher than inside, the edges part and fluid flows in. When pressure inside is higher, they press shut and lymph cannot leak back out.

What do anchoring filaments do?

They attach the endothelial cells of a lymphatic capillary to the tissue around it. When extra interstitial fluid collects, the filaments are pulled, the openings between the cells widen and more fluid can flow in.

How is a lymphatic capillary different from a blood capillary?

A lymphatic capillary starts at a closed end, and fluid can flow into it but not back out. A blood capillary is part of a net that links an arteriole to a venule, so blood flows through it.

How do I correctly label the anatomical features of lymphatic capillaries?

Find the arteriole, the blood capillaries and the venule first. Then name the lymphatic capillaries and their closed ends, and on the wall the endothelial cells, the one-way valves and the anchoring filaments. This drawing is our own, made for practice.

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