Skeleton intervertebral discs. It is not as hard and rigid as bone but is stiffer and less flexible than muscle. Cartilage is composed of specialized cells called chondrocytes that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix composed of Type II collagen (except Fibrocartilage which also contains type I collagen) fibers, abundant ground substance rich in proteoglycan, and elastin fibers. Cartilage is classified in three types, elastic cartilage, hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage, which differ in the relative amounts of these three main components. Unlike other connective tissues, cartilage does not contain blood vessels. The chondrocytes are supplied by diffusion, helped by the
Lateral nasal cartilage curls up, to join with an inward curl of the greater alar cartilage. That curl of the inferior portion of the lateral cartilage is called its "scroll." Lateral nasal cartilage The lateral cartilage (upper lateral cartilage, lateral process of septal nasal cartilage) is situated below the inferior margin of the nasal bone, and is flattened, and triangular in shape. Its anterior margin is thicker than the posterior, and is continuous above with the septal nasal cartilage, but separated from it below by a narrow fissure; its superior margin is attached to the nasal bone and the frontal process of the