Data from: Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration.

Can plants sense natural airborne sounds and respond to them rapidly? We
show that Oenothera drummondii flowers, exposed to playback sound of a
flying bee or to synthetic sound-signals at similar frequencies, produce
sweeter nectar within 3 minutes, potentially increasing the chances of
cross pollination. We found that the flowers vibrated mechanically in
response to these sounds, suggesting a plausible mechanism where the
flower serves as an auditory sensory organ. Both the vibration and the
nectar response were frequency-specific: the flowers responded and
vibrated to pollinator sounds, but not to higher frequency sound. Our
results document for the first time that plants can rapidly respond to
pollinator sounds in an ecologically relevant way. Potential implications
include plant resource allocation, the evolution of flower shape, and the
evolution of pollinators sound. Finally, our results suggest that plants
may be affected by other sounds as well, including antropogenic ones.