Pomax umbellata

Pomax umbellata is a small wiry subshrub or perennial herb in the coffee family (Rubiaceae), the sole species of the monotypic Australian genus Pomax. Plants form low, much-branched tufts up to about 30 cm tall with slender, four-angled stems bearing opposite, narrow, oblong to elliptic leaves a few millimetres long, accompanied by interpetiolar stipules typical of the family. The small white to pinkish, four-lobed tubular flowers are clustered in compact terminal umbel-like heads subtended by leafy bracts; each fertile flower develops into a tiny dry indehiscent fruit crowned with persistent calyx teeth. The species is endemic to Australia, occurring across temperate and subtropical regions of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia in sclerophyll forest, woodland and heath on a range of well-drained soils.