Uhlia allenbyensis is known exclusively from the Princeton Chert, a fossil locality in British Columbia, Canada,[1] which comprises an anatomically preserved flora of Eocene Epoch age, with rich species abundance and diversity.

The chert is located in exposures of the Allenby Formation on the east bank of the Similkameen River, 8.5 km (5.3 mi) south of the town of Princeton, British Columbia.

The highlands temperate biome preserved across a large transect of lakes recorded many of the earliest appearances of modern genera, while also documenting the last stands of ancient lines.

Erwin and Stockey used cellulose acetate peels with hydrofluoric acid to create serial thin sections of the fossils for anatomical and cellular study.

[1] The formal description of the new genus and species was published by Erwin and Stockey (1994) in the journal Palaeontographica Abteilung B, with the genus name Uhlia being chosen as a matronym honoring palm systematist Natalie Uhl in recognition of her work on palm taxonomy and the specific name allenbyensis coined from Allenby, British Columbia, the ghost town that the Allenby Formation takes its name from.

[1] In the type description, U. allenbyensis was assigned to the palm subfamily Coryphoideae and tribe Corypheae based on the similarity in leaf and stem anatomy to the living genera Brahea, Rhapidophyllum, and Serenoa.

The beetles have been assigned to the Caryobruchus – Speciomerus genus group and are obligate parasites of palms in the tribes Cocoaceae, Coryphaea, Hyphorbeae, and Phoeniceae.

[3] The Okanagan Highland sites, such as the Princeton chert represent upland lake systems that were surrounded by a warm temperate ecosystem with nearby volcanism.

[4] The highlands likely had a mesic upper microthermal to lower mesothermal climate, in which winter temperatures rarely dropped low enough for snow and which were seasonably equitable.

[9] The warm temperate uplands floras of the Allenby Formation and greater highlands in association with downfaulted lacustrine basins and active volcanism are noted to have no exact modern equivalents.