Origin and Habitat: In the original description was cited as a site just generically “north Argentina, Salta”.

• Rebutia chrysacantha var. elegans (Backeb.) Backeb.
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha f. elegans (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. elegans (Backeb.) Backeb. ex Krainz
• Rebutia senilis f. elegans (Backeb.) Buining & Don
• Rebutia xanthocarpa var. elegans Backeb.

• Rebutia minuscula K.Schum.
• Echinopsis minuscula (K.Schum.) F.A.C.Weber in Bois
• Eurebutia minuscula (K.Schum.) G.Vande Weghe
• Lobivia minuscula (K.Schum.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton
• Rebutia chrysacantha Backeb.
• Lobivia chrysacantha (Backeb.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. chrysacantha Šída
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha (Backeb.) Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. chrysacantha (Backeb.) Donald
• Rebutia senilis f. chrysacantha (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. elegans (Backeb.) Backeb.
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha f. elegans (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. elegans (Backeb.) Backeb. ex Krainz
• Rebutia senilis f. elegans (Backeb.) Buining & Don
• Rebutia xanthocarpa var. elegans Backeb.
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. kesselringiana (Bewer.) Donald ex Šída
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha f. kesselringiana (Bewer.) Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. iseliniana f. kesselringiana (Bewer.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. kesselringiana Bewer.
• Rebutia senilis f. kesselringiana (Bewer.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. schieliana (Bewer.) Šída
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha f. schieliana (Bewer.) Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. schieliana Bewer.
• Rebutia senilis f. schieliana (Bewer.) Donald
• Rebutia minuscula subs. edeltraudianae n.n.
• Rebutia edeltraudae n.n.
• Rebutia minuscula f. kariusiana (Wessner) Donald
• Rebutia calliantha var. kariusiana (Wessner) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia kariusiana Wessner
• Rebutia minuscula subs. violaciflora f. kariusiana (Wessner) Donald
• Rebutia senilis Backeb.
• Lobivia senilis (Backeb.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton
• Rebutia minuscula var. senilis (Backeb.) Simon
• Rebutia senilis subs. senilis Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. senilis Šída
• Rebutia senilis var. aurescens Backeb.
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. aurescens (Backeb.) Šída
• Rebutia senilis var. iseliniana Krainz
• Rebutia chrysacantha var. iseliniana (Krainz) Donald ex Šída
• Rebutia senilis subs. chrysacantha f. iseliniana (Krainz) Donald
• Rebutia senilis f. iseliniana (Krainz) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. lilacino-rosea Backeb.
• Rebutia senilis var. lilacinorosea Backeb.
• Rebutia senilis f. lilacino-rosea (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis subs. senilis f. lilacino-rosea (Backeb.) Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. semperflorens Poind.
• Rebutia senilis var. stuemeri Backeb.
• Rebutia senilis f. stuemeri (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. stuemeriana Backeb.
• Rebutia stuemeriana Backeb.
• Rebutia violaciflora Backeb.
• Lobivia violaciflora (Backeb.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton
• Rebutia minuscula var. minuscula f. violaciflora (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia minuscula subs. violaciflora (Backeb.) Donald
• Rebutia minuscula f. violaciflora (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia violaciflora var. violaciflora Šída
• Rebutia violaciflora var. albispina hort.
• Rebutia violaciflora var. carminea (Buining) Donald
• Rebutia carminea Buining
• Rebutia violaciflora var. knuthiana (Backeb.) Donald
• Lobivia knuthiana (Backeb.) H.P.Kelsey & Dayton
• Rebutia knuthiana Backeb.
• Rebutia minuscula f. knuthiana (Backeb.) Buining & Donald
• Rebutia minuscula subs. violaciflora f. knuthiana Buining & Donald
• Rebutia senilis var. knuthiana R.Hillmann

Description: Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15395]]SN|15406]] var. elegans is a local or morphological form of the very variable Rebutia minusculaSN|15406]]SN|15391]] it distinguishes from standard Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15406]]SN|15406]] for having rather short bristly whitish spines (Rather than yellowish and stiff) and very showy, large reddish-orange flowers. The name is derived from the overall appearance of the variety, with elegant, neat, spines spirally arranged. It is self-fertile.
Note: Originally var. elegans was assigned to Rebutia xanthocarpaSN|15406]]SN|15417]], as indicated by Backeberg first description for the somewhat short spination, but the shape and size of the flower assigns unambiguously it to the group "Rebutia senilisSN|15395]]SN|15395]] - Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15417]]SN|15406]]", and due to the more elongated growth, the yellowish colouration of the spines and the presence of yellow colour in the flowers with wider petals assigns var. elegans rather to Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15406]]SN|15406]]. Despite all this, due to the fact that this variety is probably not referred to any natural population, it would be more appropriate, as well as for other infraspecific taxa, to use the level of form.
Habit: It is a small solitary or mound-forming cactus. It grows quite close to the ground and offsets only with age. It would appear that in cultivation they grow larger and cluster more vigorously than in habitat. It is a prolific bloomer.
Roots: Fibrous.
Stems: Flattened globose to elongate-globose, apex depressed, bright to dull green, 4-6 cm in diameter.
Ribs: Spiralled with distinct low, rounded tubercles, approximate, in spiralled arrangement.
Areoles: Very small on top of tubercles, circular to slightly elliptical, brownish. Slightly covered with short whitish felt, soon bare.
Spines: Up to 30 bristly, stiff, erect or spreading, hardly distinguishable as radials or centrals, whitish with yellow tips, 5-10 (or more) mm long.
Flowers: Flowers grow in profusion from the older areoles on the bottom half of the stem, often at the stem bases. Funnel-form, red with a yellowish tint, to 4 cm long about 3,5 cm wide. Floral tube slender, yellowish-orange. Tepals alike those of all varieties of Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15391]]SN|15406]] noticeably wider than Rebutia senilisSN|15406]]SN|15395]], yellowish red. Filaments yellow. Pistil yellow, free-standing Stigma white, with thin outstretched stigma lobes.
Fruits: Globose, red, about 5 mm in diameter, scarlet red when ripe, with a thin drying skin.
Seeds: Oblong, about 1 mm long and 0,7 mm wide glossy black.
Remarks: The size and number of spines is greatly influenced by the conditions of culture, at lower light levels the spines are less numerous, delicate and whitish, while with strong solar radiation the spines are stronger with a yellowish tint. In some cases differences are referable to separate population, but often occurred over a long period of cultivation due to autogamy. Many such variants have been described as species in the past as variety and forms, but often this “variety” are the result of confusion and misidentification.

Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Edward Anderson “The Cactus family” Timber Press, Incorporated, 2001
2) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey "The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass" Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
3) David R Hunt; Nigel P Taylor; Graham Charles; International Cactaceae Systematics Group. "The New Cactus Lexicon" dh books, 2006
4) N. L. Britton, J. N. Rose “The Cactaceae. Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family.” Volume 4, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1923
5) Curt Backeberg “Die Cactaceae: Handbuch der Kakteenkunde” Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart New York 1982–1985
6) Willy Cullmann, Erich Götz, Gerhard Gröner “Kakteen” edn 5 - Stuttgart Eugen Ulmer, 1984
7) Backeberg, Curt; "Das Kakteenlexikon" p. 384, 1966
8) Donald, John Donald; "The Classification of the Rebutias" Ashingtonia, 2: 43, 1975
9) Hlinecký, Antonín; "Rod Rebutia K. Schumann"; Fri?iana, 5/36: 9, 1965
10) Krainz, Hans; "Rebutia minuscula K. Schumann; Die Kakteen", CVc, 15.7.1960
11) Pilbeam, John; "Rebutia", Cactus File Handbook No. 2. Cirio Publishing, Southampton, 1997
12) Pilbeam, John. "Sulcorebutia and Weingartia: a Collector’s Guide." Timber Press, Portland. 1985
13) Pilbeam, John, and David Hunt. "A Sulco Gallery." David Hunt Publishing, Milborne Port, England. 2004
14)Schumann, Karl Moritz; "Gesamtbeschreibung der Kakteen", p. 395, 1898
15) Šída, Otakar; "Atlas kaktus?", tab. 50, 1991
16) Šída, Otakar; "Rod Rebutia", p. 31, 1997
17) Demaio, P., Lowry, M., Ortega-Baes, P., Perea, M. & Trevisson, M. 2013. Rebutia minuscula. In: IUCN 2013. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species." Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 January 2014.
18) Dan Mahr "Cactus Gems from the High Andes" A Horticulture Information article from the Wisconsin Master Gardener website, posted 3 April 2009 <http://wimastergardener.org/sites/wimastergardener.org/files/rebutias.pdf> Downloaded on 06 January 2014.

Cultivation and Propagation: Rebutia chrysacanthaSN|15406]]SN|15406]] var. elegans is a free-flowering and easy plant to grow.
Exposition: Full sun to light shade.
Watering: Water regularly in summer but do not over-water. Keep dry in winter. Hardy down to -4°C.
Growing tips: It is better that they be repotted regularly. Repotting will increase the number and size of stems, and will increase the number of flowers produced. Repot yearly until it reaches about 100 mm in size, then every two or three years will suffice. Repotting is best done at the end of winter, but it can be done at other time, too. Do not water for a couple of weeks after repotting, in order to reduce risk of root rot via broken roots.
Propagation: Offsets, seeds.