Effoliation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process by which leaves are shed or removed from a plant or tree
2. The natural or induced action of leaves falling off or being stripped from vegetation
3. The phenomenon involving plants losing their foliage, either seasonally or due to external factors

Etymology: "Effoliation" is a rare variant spelling of "exfoliation", and the two words share a Latin ancestor: "exfoliare", meaning to strip off leaves. The Latin verb is built from "ex-", "out" or "away", and "folium", "leaf", which also gives English words like "foliage" and "folio". The original sense was therefore quite literal, describing the act of stripping a plant of its leaves. Over time the word's meaning spread from plants to other surfaces. In English, "exfoliation" came to describe layers of a material peeling away, such as flakes of rock or bark, and later the shedding of skin. The "effoliation" spelling, which keeps the Latin "ef-" form, is the less common alternative, and the sense you are asking about, plants losing their leaves, is the older and more literal one that the Latin root points back to.

Synonyms: leaf fall, defoliation, leaf shedding, leaf drop, leaf loss