Flakus collected the type specimen from Nuevos Reyes village in the José Ballivián Province (Beni Department), where he found it growing on palm tree leaves in a lowland Amazon forest.

The algal cells are elongated (15–23 by 3–6 μm) and arranged in a flat, radiating pattern that branches out like a fan.

[1] At the time of its initial description, Porina boliviana had only been found in one location: near the village of Nuevos Reyes in the Beni Department of Bolivia.

This area is part of the lowland southwest Amazon rainforest, at an elevation of about 190 m (620 ft) above sea level.

[1] It has since been recorded at a similar elevation from the Parque Ecologico Cobija in the Nicolás Suárez Province (Pando Department).