Abscission

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Abscission (from Latin abscindere, from ab- ‘off, away’ + scindere ‘to cut’) is the shedding of a body part. It most commonly refers to the process by which a plant intentionally drops one or more of its parts, such as a leaf, fruit, flower or seed, though the term is also used to describe the shedding of a claw by an animal.

A plant will abscise a part either to discard a member that is no longer necessary, such as a leaf during autumn, or a flower following fertilisation, or for the purposes of reproduction. If a leaf is damaged a plant may also abscise it to conserve water or photosynthetic efficiency, depending on the 'costs' to the plant as a whole.

The gaseous plant hormones ethylene can stimulate abscission. Abscisic acid may also be variously involved in the process. Auxin is a plant hormone which can prevent the formation of abscission layers and premature fruit drop.

In deciduous trees, an abscission zone, also called a separation zone is formed at the base of the petiole. It is composed of a top layer which has cells with weak walls, and a bottom layer which expands in the autumn, breaking the weak walls of the cells in the top layer. This allows the leaf to be shed.