The senoti was a tree species that originated on the Outer Rim world of New Canistel. To flourish, these deeply rooted trees needed soil with alkaline properties. They also yielded a sap that had applications in medicine. Senoti trees could also be found outside of New Canistel. A small population grew naturally on Endor. Xenoarborists believed that these Endorian trees were descended from trees aboard two Canistel AgriStar freighters that disappeared in the Moddell sector. The indigenous Ewoks of Endor venerated the tree for its curative qualities. In 3 ABY, the Warrick family of Ewoks employed senoti sap as part of a medicine given to Cindel Towani, a youngling who had been shipwrecked. Some senoti trees also grew within the Xenobotanical Garden on Garqi, but they were destroyed by fire during the first year of the Yuuzhan Vong War.
The senoti was a tree species. When fully grown, senoti trees possessed rough, gnarled, brown bark, and their trunks could reach a circumference several times larger than an Ewok. For optimal growth, the trees sent down deep roots and needed alkaline soil. If senoti seeds were planted in acidic soil, they would only develop into stunted plants, assuming they survived at all. The senoti produced a watery sap that possessed analgesic properties and could reduce fevers.
The senoti's original habitat was New Canistel, a planet situated in the Demetras sector of the Outer Rim Territories, and which lacked significant historical or military importance. Several decades before the collapse of the Galactic Empire, two X-19 barges of the Canistel AgriStar company, transporting senoti seeds, vanished in the Moddell sector, an area notorious for its unusual navigational conditions. Later, a few senoti trees were discovered on the moon of Endor, the homeworld of the Ewoks, a small, sentient species. Xenoarborists theorized that the barges from AgriStar had crashed on Endor, scattering the seeds. Only a handful of these seeds managed to survive in the moon's acidic soil. One such tree grew near the Bright Tree Village, within Ewok territory. The Ewoks soon realized the medicinal benefits of senoti sap, and the tree became a revered source of healing, utilized by generations of Ewoks.
In 3 ABY, a starship crashed on Endor. One of the survivors, a young Human named Cindel Towani, became sick and developed a fever, likely due to exposure to something in Endor's environment. She and her brother, Mace, were taken in by the Warrick family of Ewoks. Cindel eventually lost consciousness. The Warrick family administered a medicine made from senoti sap to Towani. The initial dose revived Cindel, but it wasn't enough to fully alleviate her pain. As a result, several members of the Warrick family took Mace to the senoti tree, where they collected more sap. This additional sap proved sufficient to restore Cindel to complete health.
The Pesktda Xenobotanical Garden on the planet Garqi also contained several senoti trees. This garden was dedicated to showcasing trees and shrubs from other worlds, and it also included a grove of bafforr trees originating from Ithor. In 25 ABY, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, it was discovered that the Vonduun crab armor worn by the Yuuzhan Vong, invaders from another galaxy, was vulnerable to bafforr pollen. To conceal this strategically important information, the Resistance on Garqi burned the entire Xenobotanical Garden, destroying the senoti trees in the process.
The film Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, released in 1984, with a script by George Lucas and direction by John Korty, depicted Ewoks gathering sap from a tree and giving it to Cindel Towani. In 2002, Craig Carey, Jason Fry, and Daniel Wallace officially named the tree in "Endor and the Moddell Sector," an article for a roleplaying game published in Star Wars Gamer 9.