Xerophyte

Habit

It is a clumping plant, readily forming, especially in cultivation, dense clumps or cushion of many heads and flat to the ground.

Roots

Mostly non-succulent, fibrous roots. More than 90% of the plant is concentrated in the stem.

Note

Rebutia steinbachii subv. augustinii is apparently a neotenic variety of the species in which juvenile spination is retained throughout the life of the plant, while many of the other varieties are dimorphic (short spined juvenile forms transform at maturity to strongly spined forms).

Tubercles

Conical conspicuous.

Flowers

Bright pink to light purple, numerous in a ring at the base of the plant.

Blooming Season

Spring (April - May) and remain open for up to five days.

Spines

Tiny Amber coloured and pectinate, often more than 20. These spines obscure the stem giving the plant a straw-yellow to reddish-brown appearance.

Ribs

12-26, spiralling, forming oblong rhomboid tubercles with well-defined grooves.

Stem

Single heads 30–40 mm wide (but often smaller), globular, flattened and somehow apically depressed, grey-green, almost hidden under the covering of spines.

Areoles

White or yellowish, long, narrow 3-6 long, 1,5-2 mm large.