Pollination biology of Meliosma
We don't know how the flowers of Meliosma are pollinated, but in many species the flowers have a a mechanism that explosively propels pollen off the anthers into the air. There are many gaps in our knowledge of basic biological aspects of Meliosma and in this case the existence of this mechanism has been questioned (at least for some species of Meliosma; Ronse de Craene & Wanntorp 2008). It is possible that not all species of Meliosma have this explosive pollen release, but as seen in the videos below it definitely occurs in some Neotropical species. The intricate floral morphology in Meliosma, where the two fertile stamens are lodged in a staminodial complex before the flowers reach anthesis, enables this mechanism. Van Beusekom (1971) hypothesized that Meliosma flowers, which are very small and occur in densely-packed panicles, self-pollinate. However, these flowers have nectaries and in many cases are very aromatic (like in M. glabrata), which is more consistent with pollination by a small insect, for example.
Meliosma glabrata
Pictures of the flowers of M. glabrata (shown in the video above), after the pollen release mechanism has been activated (flowers are ca. 10 mm across).
Meliosma irazuensis
Pictures of flowers of M. irazuensis before and after the pollen release mechanism has been triggered (flowers are ca. 8 mm across).
Meliosma alba
As mentioned on the phylogeny research section, Meliosma alba is an interesting taxon for a few different reasons. On one hand, the monophyly of Chinese and Mexican plants was supported by molecular data and on the other, M. alba resolves as sister to Ophiocaryon, the smallest genus in the family. Although these phylogenetic results are not conclusive, the search for morphological characters that would support a close M. alba + Ophiocaryon relationship is on. Given that it seems like Ophiocaryon does not have the explosive anther dehiscence present in many Meliosma species, a good place to start was to look into the claim that the mechanism is also absent in M. alba.
As seen in the video, at least in Mexico the flowers of M. alba have anthers that release pollen explosively like many other species in this genus.