The minute nucleus is decorticated, but apparently smooth. After harvesting, stems are decorticated while the plants are fresh. It contains about nine whorls (the protoconch decorticated). If symptomatic, they can be laparoscopically decorticated - removal of the outer layer or cortex. Seeds are decorticated (dehusked) by mallet, hand hammer, or decoricator. The seeds are decorticated by wooden mallets or by decorticators or by pressing under planks. In Portuguese heraldry, but rarely in other countries, trees are sometimes found decorticated.