STRATIFIED EPITHELIA

Stratified epithelium consists of several cell layers, with only the lower layer attached to the basal lamina; the layers deposited above have lost contact with the basal lamina. For the resulting classification, it is most important to describe the shape of the superficial cells, i.e. the uppermost layer, as these cells are the most specialized and have the most typical morphology. According to the shape of the superficial cells, the covering epithelia are classified as:

- Stratified columnar epithelium
- Stratified squamous epithelium
Fig. 1. Stratified epithelia. The description is given on the left of the figure; the basal lamina is shown by the black line under the epithelium.