The peripheral part of the gustatory apparatus (Organon gustus) is
formed by the microscopic =taste buds= (Calyculi gustatorii), which
occur especially in the foliate, fungiform, and vallate papillæ, in the
free edge and anterior pillars of the soft palate, and the oral surface
of the epiglottis. The taste buds are ovoid masses, which occupy
corresponding recesses in the ordinary epithelium; each presents a
minute opening, the gustatory pore. The buds consist of fusiform
supporting cells grouped around central =gustatory cells=. The latter
are long and narrow; the peripheral end of each bears a small filament,
the gustatory hair, which projects at the gustatory pore; the central
end is produced to form a fine process which is often branched. The
taste buds are innervated by fibers of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve and
the lingual branch of the trigeminus.