Synonyms:

Rebutia teresae
Aylostera theresa

Habitat:

This species is native to to the hight mountainous areas of Bolivia (about 2000 mt.)

Description:

Rebutia heliosa subs. teresae is a small globular cactus up to 10 cm hight. The green stem is solitary at first but the offsets grow rapidly and emerge in a ring around the base to form a compact cluster. In the stems the tubercles are arranged in a spiral. On the top of each tubercle there is the brown areoles densely covered silver-white spines.
Flowers develop in the spring at the base or halfway up each mature stem. The flowers, are red-orange with pink-purple outer petals.

Cultivation:

Rebutia heliosa subs. teresae is a cactus very drought tolerant, is a mountain specie so doesn’t like hight temperature. Can thrive in full sun but prefers filtered or semi-shaded light exposure. In winter it must be kept above 3 ° C.
In cold season we recommended to put the plant in very airy spot and sheltered.
Water moderately in summer and remember always allow the soil to dry out before watering again. Reduce irrigation in autumn and stopping in winter.
We recommended a rich fast draining soil. The good drainage keep away rot.
Repot in warm season to allow the cluster to grow.

Propagation:

Propagation is possible from seed or cutting.
R. heliosa subs. teresae is easily to propagate from offsets . You can separate the offsets , dray out the cut some days and repotting in in a pot with a potting soil mixture and keep in a warm place until new roots emerge.

Curiosity:

The name of the Rebutia species takes its name from the french botanist P. Rebut, a great scholar and collector of cacti.
The genus Rebutia belong to the cactaceae family and includes more than 20 species all native to South America.