To see the relationship of follicles and ovarian stroma, click here. The individual follicles, each of which contains an egg which can potentially be ovulated, may be seen scattered through the cortex in various stages. This is the very earliest stage of development, and most follicles in any given ovary never get beyond this stage. Within each primordial follicle is a primary oocyte , arrested in the course of its meiotic division. The wall of the primordial follicle is a thin layer of squamous follicular epithelium .
Some primordial follicles do eventually develop.
There should be at least one such primary follicle in your slide, showing these features. To see some primordial and primary follicles, click here. The ZP is a non-cellular glycoprotein coat, which actually is a product of the surrounding follicular epithelium. It serves as a sort of basal lamina to the first layer of these cells, pressed up against the egg. Follicles demonstrating a stratified follicular epithelium, and enclosing oocytes with a distinct ZP are secondary follicles .