Puna

Puna may refer to:

See also

Puna grassland

The Puna grassland ecoregion, of the montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru, but extends south, across Bolivia, as far as northern Argentina and Chile. The term puna encompasses diverse ecosystems of the high Central Andes above 3200–3400 m.

Location

The puna is found above the treeline at 3200–3500 m elevation, and below the permanent snow line above 4500–5000 m elevation. It extends from central Peru in the north, across the Altiplano plateau of Peru and Bolivia, and south along the spine of the Andes into northern Argentina and Chile.

Other sources claim that it goes on Suni (high plateaus and cliffs, some agriculture) and from 4000 m to the snow line (permafrost and alpine desert) of Puna grassland (mountain tops and slopes, much colder).

Ecoregions

The puna is a diverse ecosystem that comprises varied ecoregions labeled wet/moist puna, dry puna and desert puna.

Puna (mythology)

In the Polynesian mythology of the Tuamotu archipelago in the South Pacific, Puna is the king of Hiti-marama or of Vavau, depending on the story.

In one story, Vahieroa weds Matamata-taua, also called Tahiti To‘erau. On the night of their son Rata's birth, the parents go fishing. They are snatched away by the demon bird belonging to the Puna, king of Hiti-marama, "an island north of [present-day] Pitcairn and Elizabeth but long since swallowed in the sea." The bird Matatata‘ota‘o bites off the chief's head and swallows it whole. The wife is placed head downward as a food holder in the house of Puna's wife Te-vahine-hua-rei (Beckwith 1970:261).

In a second version, Vahi-vero is the son of Kui, a demigod of Hawaiki, and a goblin woman named Rima-roa. Kui plants food trees and vegetables and is also a great fisherman. The goblin woman Rima-roa robs his garden; he lies in wait and seizes her, and she bears him the son Vahi-vero. Vahi-vero visits a pool from which the beautiful Tahiti-tokerau daily emerges. Kui teaches him how to lie in wait and seize her, and never let her go until she says his name. Having mastered her, he finds that Puna, king of Vavau, is his rival.