The major alar cartilage (greater alar cartilage) (lower lateral cartilage) is a thin, flexible plate, situated immediately below the

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 ...

, and bent upon itself in such a manner as to form the medial wall and lateral wall of the

nostril A nostril (or naris , plural ''nares'' ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbi ...

of its own side. The portion which forms the medial wall (crus mediale) is loosely connected with the corresponding portion of the opposite cartilage, the two forming, together with the thickened

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, shell, germ or rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a covering". In a transferred, or ...

and subjacent tissue, the

nasal septum The nasal septum () separates the left and right airways of the Human nose, nasal cavity, dividing the two nostrils. It is Depression (kinesiology), depressed by the depressor septi nasi muscle. Structure The fleshy external end of the nasal ...

. The part which forms the lateral wall (crus laterale) is curved to correspond with the

ala of the nose The human nose is the most protruding part of the face. It bears the nostrils and is the first organ of the respiratory system. It is also the principal organ in the olfactory system. The shape of the nose is determined by the nasal bones ...

; it is oval and flattened, narrow behind, where it is connected with the

frontal process of the maxilla The frontal process of maxilla is a strong plate, which projects upward, medialward, and backward from the maxilla, forming part of the lateral boundary of the nose. Its ''lateral surface'' is smooth, continuous with the anterior surface of the b ...

by a tough fibrous membrane, in which are found three or four small cartilaginous plates, the

lesser alar cartilages In human anatomy the part of the nose which forms the lateral wall is curved to correspond with the ala of the nose; it is oval and flattened, narrow behind, where it is connected with the frontal process of the maxilla The maxilla (plural: ...

(cartilagines alares minores; sesamoid cartilages). Above, it is connected by fibrous tissue to the lateral cartilage and front part of the

cartilage of the septum The septal nasal cartilage (cartilage of the septum or quadrangular cartilage) is composed of hyaline cartilage. It is somewhat quadrilateral in form, thicker at its margins than at its center, and completes the separation between the nasal cavi ...

; below, it falls short of the margin of the nostril, the ala being completed by fatty and fibrous tissue covered by

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...

. In front, the greater alar cartilages are separated by a notch which corresponds with the apex of the nose.

References

{{Authority control Nose