Stroma of ovary

Stroma of ovary
Section of the ovary. 1. Outer covering. 1’. Attached border. 2. Central stroma. 3. Peripheral stroma. 4. Blood vessels. 5. Vesicular follicles in their earliest stage. 6, 7, 8. More advanced follicles. 9. An almost mature follicle. 9’. Follicle from which the ovum has escaped. 10. Corpus luteum.
Section of the fold in the mesonephros of a chick embryo of the fourth day. (Stroma of ovary labeled at center left.)
Details
Latin	stroma ovarii
Anatomical terminology []

The stroma of the ovary is a peculiar soft tissue, abundantly supplied with blood vessels, consisting for the most part of spindle-shaped cells with a small amount of ordinary connective tissue.

These cells have been regarded by some anatomists as unstriped muscle cells, which, indeed, they most resemble; by others as connective-tissue cells.

On the surface of the organ this tissue is much condensed, and forms a layer (tunica albuginea) composed of short connective-tissue fibers, with fusiform cells between them.

The stroma of the ovary may contain interstitial cells resembling those of the testis.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)