The natural shedding or falling off of leaves, flowers, fruit, or other plant parts at maturity.
From Latin abscidere (to cut off) + -ion (action noun suffix). This term became standard in botany during the 18th century as scientists studied how plants deliberately detach their parts.
Plants didn't evolve to just lose leaves by accident—abscision is a sophisticated process where the plant seals off vessels and creates weak points to shed parts strategically, like controlled demolition in nature.
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