exfoliate (v.)

1610s, transitive, "to cast off, shed" (a surface); 1670s, intransitive, "to separate or come off in thin, leaf-like layers;" from Late Latin exfoliatus, past participle of exfoliare "to strip of leaves," from ex "off, out of" (see ex-) + folium "leaf" (from PIE root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom"). Related: Exfoliated; exfoliating.