Endocrine glands are ductless and secrete their products, hormones, directly into interstitial spaces to be taken up into the bloodstream.
This ingrowth may in the beginning possess a tubular structure, but in other instances glands may start as a solid column of cells which subsequently becomes tubulated.
[3] As growth proceeds, the column of cells may split or give off offshoots, in which case a compound gland is formed.
In many glands, the number of branches is limited, in others (salivary, pancreas) a very large structure is finally formed by repeated growth and sub-division.
Exocrine glands secrete their products through a duct onto an outer or inner surface of the body, such as the skin or the gastrointestinal tract.