Data from: Efficient pollination stinks: Corpse flowers use floral trapping and persistent emissions
Data files
Sep 30, 2025 version files 7.94 MB
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CorpseFlower-Aranet4_CSU-PGF_20240524_RA.ict
78.84 KB
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CorpseFlower-PTR-MS_CSU-PGF_20240525_rA.ict
7.86 MB
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CorpseFlower-TD-GC-MS_CSU-PGF_20240525_RA.ict
3.34 KB
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README.md
2.77 KB
Abstract
Flowering corpse plants attract pollinating carrion insects through pungent, nocturnal odors. Female flowers primarily emit organosulfur, including ~12gS/hour as methanethiol with mixing ratios comparable to landfills; male emissions are smaller and more diverse. Floral emissions during blooming represent ~0.4% of plant biomass and change throughout the blooming sequence, consistent with floral trapping: insects remain with florets after initial attraction for subsequent release with pollen shedding the following night, preventing inbreeding and enhancing fertilization efficiency. Female flower plumes are resilient under pristine conditions, with relative floral composition changing minimally with nighttime oxidation and attracting insects for later release during the male bloom stage, which is less resilient. In polluted atmospheres, rapid oxidation may impact compound ratios and plume size, inhibiting pollination of these endangered plants.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tht76hf8m
Description of the data and file structure
The following datasets include quantified results of biogenic emissions from the Amorphophallus titanium (Titan arum or corpse plant) that bloomed in May 2024 at the CSU plant growth conservatory. Online measurements were collected via a Tofwerk PTR-MS, while offline samples were collected using cartridge samples that were analyzed by TD-GC/MS. These complementary data created a continuous profile of the bloom emissions from 25 May 2024 to 27 May 2024. Additional metadata from the greenhouse includes temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide levels.
Files and variables
File: CorpseFlower-Aranet4_CSU-PGF_20240524_RA.ict
Description: Data collected from the Colorado State University, The Plant Growth Facilities, during the Corpse flower bloom in May 2024. The Aranet4 Home sensor was located on a tripod within two meters of the corpse flower. Data collected leading up to the corpse flower bloom and a day after the peak bloom
File: CorpseFlower-TD-GC-MS_CSU-PGF_20240525_RA.ict
Description: Samples were collected on Tenax sorbent tubes for 1 - 3 hours at ~ 200mL/min. Samples were frozen until analysis with a Thermal desorption autosampler (TD, Markes, Ultra-xr) coupled to a Thermo-Scientific gas chromatograph (Trace 1310) triple quadruple mass spectrometer (TSQ 8000); identifications were made via analytical standards and NIST library matches. Compounds were quantified from linear regression analyses.
File: CorpseFlower-PTR-MS_CSU-PGF_20240525_rA.ict
Description: Instrument: PTR-MS, Vocus 2R CI-TOF, Tofwerk. Detection and quantification of resulting MH+ ions is accomplished with a time-of-flight mass analyzer with a resolution of 10000 FWHM m/dm. No sampling lines were used, and data were collected in a mass range of 0 - 400 Th. The electric field to number density ratio (E/N) was 140 Td. Instrument backgrounds were determined every three hours by measuring clean air for two minutes; the clean air was generated by a Vocus Zero Air Generator that utilizes a catalyst to combust hydrocarbons from ambient air.
Code/software
All data files are .ict and can be read by a Python reader. Files can be opened as a .txt file for readability.
Python and Igor scripts are hosted at Zenodo and can be accessed by the provided GitHub link there.
Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15388407
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
- N/A
Data was derived from the following sources:
- N/A
Data was collected during a corpse flower bloom at Colorado State University (May 2024), via proton-transfer mass spectrometry and offline cartridge samles that were thermally desorbed onto a gas spectrometry mass spectrometer. Additional data includes greenhouse temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentrations.