This article is about the biological process, for other uses see Exfoliation

Exfoliation

Exfoliation has several meanings:* Exfoliation describes the loss of leaves from a plant.* Exfoliation , is a cosmetic technique aimed at removing dead skin cells from the face and body....

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Exfoliation (from the term "foliate", meaning “related to leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

”) means the removal or loss of leaves from a plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

. It is used both to describe the loss of a leaves as a natural part of a plant’s life cycle

Biological life cycle

A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...

 (such as in the case of deciduous trees which lose their leaves in the autumn) or because of some trauma or outside cause (such as dehydration

Dehydration

In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...

, an infestation

Infestation

Infestation refers to the state of being invaded or overrun by pests or parasites. It can also refer to the actual organisms living on or within a host.-Terminology:...

 of caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s or hurricane-force winds).

In arboriculture

Arboriculture

Arboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science....

, the term “exfoliating bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

” describes the natural process and condition of the bark peeling-away from a tree trunk

Tree Trunk

"Tree Trunk" is a song recorded and released in 1972 by The Doors."Tree Trunk" was recorded by the surviving members of The Doors as they assembled material for their second and final album, Full Circle, following the death of Jim Morrison...

, typically in large pieces that remain partially attached to the trunk until such time as they are completely detached by the elements or the eventual and subsequent exfoliation of additional layers of bark. Examples of trees with exfoliating bark are the paperbark maple

Paperbark Maple

Acer griseum is a species of maple native to central China, in the provinces of Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Sichuan, at altitudes of 1,500–2,000 m....

 and various species of Plane

Platanus

Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....

 (Sycamore) and birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

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