the fruit of ` teeple red empire ` is distinctly redder than the original ` empire `. the sport is estimated to have an average of 90 % of the surface covered with dark purplish and red stripes hwere as normal empire would have an estimated 75 % of the surface of similar dark purplish red . although ` empire ` can have fruit up to 100 % colored , this is all too rare an occurrence . it has been demonstrated that even under the most optimum cultural conditions of open - tree training and summer pruning ( procedures that maximize fruit color ), the color of ` empire ` average 85 %. in our experience , ` teeple red empire ` showed 95 % to 100 % of the surfaces fruit colored compared to 60 % to 100 % of the standard ` empire `. a visit to any grocery store selling ` empire ` would also show the degree of bi - colored fruit that is evident within standard ` empire ` produced commercially . color readings were taken on ` teeple red empire ` and standard ` empire ` from the 1990 crop . using the &# 34 ; dictionary of color &# 34 ; ( a . maerz and m . r . paul , 1950 mcgraw hill , n . y . ), the color of the standard ` empire ` is found on page 35 , plate 6 , section 6l and is dark cardinal . the color of ` teeple red empire ` is found on page 37 , plate 7 , section 7l an is maroon . this quantifies that the color and intensity of the red ` teeple red empire ` is deeper than the standard ` empire `. these tests were made on fruit from the same aged trees of ` teeple red empire ` and standard ` empire ` growing in the same orchard , on the same rootstock . fruit coloration differences were evident from four and one - half weeks prior to harvest . fig7 shows a standard ` empire ` ( left ) compared to a ` teeple red empire ` ( right ) two and one - half weeks before harvest . these are two random samples from trees in the same orchard , on the same rootstock and of the same age . in 1990 solid rows of ` teeple red empire ` adjacent to standard ` empire ` trees of the same age and on the same rootstock were compared . all trees of ` teeple red empire ` observed were uniform in having darker fruit and with more of the surface covered by red than standard ` empire `. fruit coloration two and one - half weeks prior to harvest , ranged from 95 % to 100 % colored for ` teeple red empire ` compared to 60 % to 100 % colored fruit for standard ` empire `. at harvest , 95 % to 100 % of ` teeple red empire ` fruit were colored compared to 80 % to 100 % of standard ` empire `. 1990 was an excellent year for color development of ` empire `, so the contract between the fruit in standard cultivar was not as dramatic as it would be in low light years . in addition to greater overall color , the fruit coloration of ` teeple red empire ` is much darker than standard red ` empire `, as evidenced by the color described here by color standards , as well as hunter color value data ( table 2 ), which compares the sun side and the shade side of the fruit and clearly demonstrates that ` teeple red empire ` is redder and far less light dependent for color than is ` empire `. ______________________________________hunter color meter values ( l , a , and b ) ______________________________________empire ( standard ) sun side 90 ° 180 ° 270 ° mean 180 °- sun______________________________________l 26 . 6 27 . 3 46 . 1 27 . 3 31 . 8 19 . 5a 21 . 2 21 13 . 7 21 . 8 19 . 4b 3 . 6 5 . 1 16 4 . 8 7 . 4l 27 . 7 37 . 1 38 . 4 31 . 8 33 . 8 10 . 7a 19 . 5 21 19 . 4 21 . 6 20 . 4b 3 . 7 10 . 9 11 . 4 6 . 5 8 . 1l 25 . 5 24 . 6 32 . 1 26 . 6 27 . 2 6 . 6a 16 . 1 18 . 3 20 . 5 18 . 1 18 . 3b 2 . 5 2 . 6 8 . 4 3 . 6 4 . 3l 25 29 . 6 35 . 1 30 . 4 30 . 0 10 . 1a 25 . 6 19 . 8 19 . 2 17 . 3 20 . 5b 2 . 4 6 . 1 10 . 5 5 . 4 6 . 1l 27 . 3 34 . 1 39 . 4 35 . 3 34 . 0 12 . 1a 18 . 5 18 . 7 17 18 18 . 1b 4 . 1 9 . 2 13 . 1 10 . 3 9 . 2grand mean 11 . 8______________________________________teeple empiresun side 90 ° 180 ° 270 ° mean 180 °- sun______________________________________l 25 . 9 28 . 7 26 . 6 24 . 8 26 . 5 0 . 7a 13 . 8 22 . 1 15 . 9 12 . 9 16 . 2b 1 . 4 6 . 4 2 . 9 1 . 5 3 . 1l 27 . 5 28 . 7 27 . 7 25 . 5 27 . 4 0 . 2a 13 . 4 20 . 9 18 13 . 2 16 . 4b 1 . 9 5 . 2 3 . 4 1 . 2 2 . 9l 24 26 . 3 27 . 2 24 . 4 25 . 5 3 . 2a 10 . 3 15 . 4 20 . 1 12 . 3 14 . 5b 0 . 1 1 . 2 3 . 9 0 . 3 1 . 4l 23 . 2 25 . 7 27 . 3 24 . 4 25 . 2 4 . 1a 11 13 . 6 17 . 7 13 . 9 14 . 1b 0 . 4 1 . 1 3 . 5 0 . 3 1 . 3l 24 . 6 29 . 2 26 . 3 25 . 5 26 . 4 1 . 7a 11 . 7 20 18 . 7 14 . 5 16 . 2b 1 . 6 5 . 5 4 . 1 1 . 5 3 . 2 grand mean 1 . 98______________________________________ for l values the higher the number the lighter the color . if you compare the sun side of the fruit , the values of the two are similar . however , 18 degrees from the sun side ( or the side likely to be in the shade ), there are higher values in the standard but not the sport . the change averages 11 . 80 for standard empire , and 1 . 98 for the sport . this indicates the uniformity of pigmentation in the sport . all values obtained using a hunter color meter . five fruits sampled randomly from trees of the same age and on the same rootstock . the outstanding merit of ` teeple red empire ` is its excellent red color . growers will be able to get high packouts of fancy grade fruit and the customer will choose the redder fruit over the less well colored fruit .
an apple tree , ` teeple red empire `, a sport of ` empire ` which is significantly redder than ` empire ` but otherwise substantially identical to ` empire `.