Scrub Breadfruit

The scrub breadfruit is an evergreen shrub or small tree usually growing to between 3 and 6 m (9.8 and 19.7 ft) high, and rarely to 10 m (33 ft). It produces multiple stems which are weak and become decumbent with age, i.e. they lean to one side and eventually lie on the ground with just the growing tip erect. The stems measure around 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, and prop roots (found in many species of Pandanaceae) are absent. The leaves are tightly clustered on the growing tip of the stem and are arranged spirally. They are very long and narrow, measuring up to 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long by 5 cm (2.0 in) wide, and are ascendant to arching. They are dark green above and a lighter green below, and are pleated such that they have an M-shaped cross-section. Small spines are present on the leaf margins (edges) and the underside of the midrib. This species is dioecious, meaning that functionally female and functionally male flowers are borne on separate plants. The inflorescence is a terminal spike, enclosed by large creamy-white bracts. The fruit is a multiple fruit, in other words it is a single body consisting of the merged maturing ovaries of a cluster of flowers (cf. aggregate fruit). …

The scrub breadfruit naturally occurs from the area of Cedar Bay (now part of Ngalba Bulal National Park), southward along the coast as far as Hinchinbrook Island, and inland to the Atherton Tablelands. It favours rainforest habitats and is found from sea level to around 800 m (2,600 ft).

Benstonea monticola, along with Pandanus tectorius and Pandanus solms-laubachii, is a host plant for the peppermint stick insect (Megacrania batesii), which shelters in the central hollow of the leaves and feeds on them. The fruits are eaten by cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius) and giant white-tailed rats (Uromys caudimaculatus).

The species epithet monticola is derived from the Latin words mons (mountain) and -cola (inhabitor), meaning "mountain dweller". The common name "scrub breadfruit" is a reference to the superficial similarity of the fruit to the more well-known breadfruit.