peripheral nerve and smooth muscle distinguish

[ATPenergy]

http://pathology.mc.duke.edu/research/histo_course/periphnerve.jpg

How do you know that this is peripheral nerve or smooth muscle?

[biohazard]

Well, the amount of nuclei would indicate it is a smooth muscle.

As far as I know, a peripheral nerve consists of axons of neurons which lack nuclei. Myelinated nerves are surrounded by nucleated Schwann cells, though. Also, taking into account the number of cells in that fibre I would go for a muscle, because it looks too thick for most peripheral nerves.

Where does the name of the image come from? It suggests there is a nerve in the picture...

However, my last pathology class was some years ago, so I'm not 100% certain of this :)