Structure of taste buds
Each taste bud is flask-like in shape,
its broad base resting on the corium, and its neck
opening by an orifice, the gustatory pore, between the
cells of the epithelium.
The bud is formed by two kinds of
cells: supporting cells and gustatory cells.
The supporting cells are
mostly arranged like the staves of a cask, and form
an outer envelope for the bud. Some, however, are
found in the interior of the bud between the
gustatory cells.
The gustatory cells occupy
the central portion of the bud; they are
spindle-shaped, and each possesses a large spherical
nucleus near the middle of the cell.
The peripheral end of the cell
terminates at the gustatory pore in a fine hair-like
filament, the gustatory hair.
The central process passes toward the
deep extremity of the bud, and there ends in single or
bifurcated varicosities.
The nerve fibrils after losing their
medullary sheaths enter the taste bud, and end in fine
extremities between the gustatory cells; other nerve
fibrils ramify between the supporting cells and
terminate in fine extremities; these,