abscise

Under drought conditions, the species will abscise its leaves; however refoliation may occur once water is made available.

This may enable the plant to abscise a large part of its shoot system in response to drought, without damaging the remaining part.

Most deciduous plants drop their leaves by abscission before winter, while evergreen plants continuously abscise their leaves.

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.

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.

Unpollinated flowers quickly abscise and fall from the inflorescence, unlike members of Coeliopsidinae which include Coeliopsis, Lycomormium & Peristeria.

Root pruning - the concept that plants prune the roots in the same kind of way as they abscise leaves, is not a well discussed topic among plant scientists, although the phenomena undoubtedly exists.