The nerve of the pterygoid canal enters the superior surface of the cartilage that fills the foramen lacerum and passes anteriorly through the cartilage to enter the pterygoid canal in the root of the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone. It passes through the canal and into the pterygopalatine fossa where it joins the pterygopalatine ganglion formed around the branches of the maxillary nerve [V2] (Fig. 8.157).