Sorocephalus imbricatus is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the Red List of South African Plants. This species has a small, scattered wild population which is declining. The main threats are the construction of dams for pump storage and forestry plantations, which cause habitat loss. Too frequent fires and invasion of alien plants are degrading the habitat. Three of the remaining patches occur immediately adjacent to pine plantations. The individual plants are dying every year and recently Phytophthora cinnamomi has been identified as one of the threats causing the mortality of the species. The species is known as a fire ephemeral (short-lived plants that die soon after setting seed, with seeds that persist in the soil and germinate after fire). However, plants are not recruiting consistently after fire. The cause of poor recruitment is not yet known, but is thought to be either not having enough seed banked in the soil caused by predators or fungal infection or because the fire is too cool or happened in the wrong season and conditions were not right for germination to occur.

Cape Nature, SANBI, Millennium Seed Bank and CREW are conducting a monitoring programme, and have hand pollinated the flowers, collected and banked the seeds, and performed germination and propagation by cuttings.