Efficient pollination stinks: Corpse flowers use floral trapping and persistent emissions

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.

, 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.
, , # Data from: Efficient pollination stinks: Corpse flowers use floral trapping and persistent emissions

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tht76hf8m](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 ...,