Kay Francis Photo Gallery: Cattleya × guatemalensis 'White as Snow'
Current nomenclature: Guarianthe × guatemalensis
or Guarianthe × laelioides
Kay knew this plant as a white form of Cattleya auriantiaca. However, the lip seems far too large and rounded for a "true" aurantiaca, so it probably should be considered an example of a (natural?) skinneri × aurantiaca hybrid, or else a horticultural hybrid with that parentage, in which case it would still be properly Guarianthe Guatemalensis, as the artificial hybrid seems not to have been changed when the name of the natural hybrid was proposed to be changed to × laelioides. Kay's notes do not reveal where she obtained this plant.
However, Fred A. Stewart, Inc. exhibited a very similar plant as C. aurantiaca 'White Magic' at Pacific South monthly judging in Los Angeles March 12, 1979, where it received FCC/AOS, the award description noting it as "an exceptional achievement in breeding" — but from what parent plants? Suspicion lingers about the degree of introgression from skinneri in natural populations of aurantiaca.
