It is endemic to Hawaii where it is known only from the island of Kauai.

[2] This member of the silversword alliance was first described to science in 1981 after it was discovered in a Kauaian rainforest.

[3] It grows in just a few spots in boggy forest habitat in the understory of ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees among sedges in the genera Oreobolus and Rhynchospora.

imbricata was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 2010.

[4] This plant is a clumpy, bushy shrub which reaches 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) tall by 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) wide.