defoliate
/diːˈfəʊlɪeɪt
/verb [with object]
Remove leaves from (a tree, plant, or area of land), for agricultural purposes or as a military tactic: the area was defoliated and napalmed many times (as adjective defoliated) a defoliated poplar...
- The adults and young feed on saltcedar leaves, repeatedly defoliating the tree and depriving it of nutrients.
- One thousand caterpillars eating leaves might completely defoliate a tree in two weeks, whereas that same number of aphids would hardly be noted.
- Frosts at any time in the growing season can partially or totally defoliate vines, but they typically remove the outermost leaf layers of a thick canopy.
Derivatives
defoliation
/ noun ...- While vigorous vines may be able to recover from a single defoliation, repeated defoliation can weaken the vine to the point of death.
- Unlike Japanese larch and white pine, defoliated bear oak seedlings showed very little response to partial defoliation.
- The effects of defoliation depend in part on the timing of defoliation.
Origin
Late 18th century: from late Latin defoliat- 'stripped of leaves', from the verb defoliare, from de- (expressing removal) + folium 'leaf'.