Asuka tree

"Truly the natural gems of Akiva. The Asuka trees are all connected by a central root system that covers the entire planet."

―A researcher^[2]

Asuka trees were a type of tree from the Outer Rim planet Akiva. Within its jungles, asuka trees grew connected to one central root network. They featured fat, broad leaves and crinkly blue flower blossoms. When capupi flies pollinated the asuka trees' blossoms, as their meal of choice, they secreted oil.

According to local legend on Akiva, one of the leaders of the Ahia-Ko civilization planted the asuka trees on Akiva by hand, and when she died and was laid to rest beneath the first tree to sprout—known as Salea's Hand—it began blooming red instead of blue. At some point by 3 ABY, a researcher studied the asuka trees on Akiva. In 4 ABY, New Republic pilot Norra Wexley and her son, Temmin Wexley, traveled to a landing pad that had several asuka trees growing nearby.

Description[]

"The capupi fly's meal of choice is the flowers of the asuka trees. After ingesting the flowers they secrete a kind of oil that is highly valuable."

―A researcher^[2]

Asuka trees were a type of tree from the hot, muggy jungles of the Outer Rim planet Akiva. All asuka trees on Akiva were connected to a central root network and organized in a semi-orderly formation within the world's jungles.^[2] The trees had fat, broad leaves and crinkly blue flower blossoms,^[1] which in special cases, could be red-colored. Other features of asuka trees included light brown bark and thick branches. Capupi flies opted for the pollen of the trees as their meal of choice. After ingesting an asuka tree's flowers, the flies secreted oil.^[2]

History[]

Local legends and research[]

"Legend has it that one of the leaders of the Ahia-Ko, who we call the first gardener of Akiva, planted all of the trees by hand. And this was the first tree that sprouted."

―A farmer, to Kay Vess about asuka trees, while in front of Salea's Hand^[2]

According to local legend on Akiva, one of the leaders of the Ahia-Ko civilization planted the asuka trees on Akiva by hand. The first tree to sprout—known as Salea's Hand, and later, also by as the "Blood Tree"—used to grow blue flowers during this time. Upon the Ahia-Ko leader's death, her final resting place was beneath the tree, and its flowers began blooming red instead from that point onward. According to another local legend on Akiva, the oil secreted from capupi flies after ingesting the flowers of an asuka tree could help an individual see into the future. At some point, Salea's Hand—which eventually grew to a massive size—became protected under the laws of the Satraps governing Akiva. Over time, several stories and poems were written about individuals meeting and reuniting underneath it, with many Akivans becoming familiar with the tales.^[2]

Unit437-Outlaws — Unit 437 traveled to the Blood Tree on a mission during the Clone Wars.

During the Clone Wars between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic,^[2] at some point between 22 BBY and 19 BBY,^[3] a group of battle droids led by the BX-series droid commando MT-7 were deployed to Akiva to locate the crashed vessel of a Separatist officer. In one of the mission's reports, the B1-series battle droid Unit 647 noted that its colleague, Unit 437, was encountering difficulties on his way to the Blood Tree.^[2] At some point by 3 ABY,^[4] a researcher studied the asuka trees on Akiva and learned about their physical qualities, how capupi flies interacted with the trees' flowers, and the local legends that had developed surrounding them. The researcher also attempted to look into whether the trees had been planted on Akiva by someone in the distant past, though only found record of some local legends concerning their origins.^[2]

Later times[]

This section of the article assumes 100% game completion of Star Wars Outlaws. Any alternate stories may be noted in the "Behind the scenes" section. The events in this section may or may not have been confirmed as canon.

"Wow. I've never seen a tree like this before."
"It is the asuka tree. They grow all over Akiva, but this one is special."

―Kay Vess and an Akivan farmer, near Salea's Hand^[2]

AkivaResearcher-Outlaws — A researcher told Kay Vess about how capupi flies interacted with asuka trees.

During the reign of the Galactic Empire,^[2] in 3 ABY,^[4] the outlaw Kay Vess met the researcher near the Temple Ruins in Akiva's Stormhollow region. There, the researcher relayed their knowledge about asuka trees and how capupi flies pollinated them and produced oil considered valuable by that time. When Vess questioned what the oil was used for, the researcher indicated that the local Akivans thought the substance could help them see into the future. Vess also inquired about the asuka trees on the planet, prompting the researcher to describe them as the natural gems of Akiva. The latter expounded on how each asuka tree was connected to a central root network, speculating that someone in the distant past may have planted them all, as their formation seemed too orderly to be random to them.^[2]

In another instance, Vess met an Akivan farmer who elaborated on the stories concerning Salea's Hand. The farmer explained the legend of the Ahia-Ko leader who had purportedly planted all of the asuka trees on Akiva, including Salea's Hand. They noted that while the leader's cause of death varied in different stories, most stories consistently indicated that the flowers of Salea's Hand began blooming red instead of blue after the leader was laid to rest beneath it. The farmer also noted that the Ahia-Ko leader was regarded by Akivans as "the first gardener of Akiva" for their supposed work planting the asuka trees on the world. At another point, Vess discovered Unit 437's remains and read the droid's final report, which mentioned the Blood Tree.^[2]

Assumption ends here.

Near the end of the rebellion on Akiva^[1] in 4 ABY,^[5] New Republic pilot Norra Wexley and her son, Temmin Wexley, traveled to a landing pad that had several asuka trees growing nearby. The day prior to their visit, a storm had blown several of the trees' leaves and flowers onto the ground.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Asuka trees first appeared in Aftermath, a 2015 novel written by Chuck Wendig as the first installment in Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy.^[1] The trees were first visually depicted in Star Wars Outlaws, a video game developed by Massive Entertainment^[2] that released on August 30, 2024. Prior to the game's release, Salea's Hand appeared in a trailer for the game released on the official Ubisoft YouTube channel on August 16 of the same year.^[6] In one instance during the game, they were capitalized as "Asuka Tree," though in all other usages, either "Asuka tree" with the latter word decapitalized, or "asuka tree" with both words decapitalized, was used.^[2] This article assumes that "asuka tree" with both letters decapitalized, as indicated first in Aftermath^[1] and later in Outlaws, is correct.^[2]