thrombocytes (thromb- + -cyte, “blood clot cell”), are a component of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to stop bleeding by clumping and clotting blood vessel injuries
Platelets have no cell nucleus: they are fragments of cytoplasm that are derived from the megakaryocytes of the bone marrow, and then enter the circulation. These unactivated platelets are biconvex discoid (lens-shaped) structures, 2–3 µm in greatest diameter.
On a stained blood smear, platelets appear as dark purple spots, about 20% the diameter of red blood cells. The smear is used to examine platelets for size, shape, qualitative number, and clumping. The ratio of platelets to red blood cells in a healthy adult ranges from 1:10 to 1:20.