area at the base of the petiole where cellular breakdown leads to leaf and fruit drop.
abscission zone (Wikipedia)
Abscission (from Latin ab- 'away' and scindere 'to cut') is the shedding of various parts of an organism, such as a plant dropping a leaf, fruit, flower, or seed. In zoology, abscission is the intentional shedding of a body part, such as the shedding of a claw, husk, or the autotomy of a tail to evade a predator. In mycology, it is the liberation of a fungal spore. In cell biology, abscission refers to the separation of two daughter cells at the completion of cytokinesis.
