[1] Tibouchina papyrus is a narrow endemic to the campos rupestres and is mainly found in three localities in the states of Goiás and Tocantins in central Brazil, including the Serra da Natividade.

[2][3] Abreu et al. found that T. papyrus is a habitat-specialist on rocky outcrop cerrado which typically has shallow substrate and uneven topography, with sandstone soils and quartzite outcrops.

[7] The flowers of T. papyrus are buzz pollinated by large bees in the genera Xylocopa, Bombus and Centris, and the seeds are wind dispersed (autochory).

[3][8] Flowers have higher fruit production when cross-pollinated although they are not self-incompatible and can produce low numbers of fruit when self-pollinated.

[8] One study of microsatellite loci showed low levels of polymorphism and low genetic diversity within populations,[7] while another study found that populations of T. papyrus are highly differentiated with little to no gene flow between populations.