Herbs, perennial, 10-80 cm tall. Leaves in basal rosette; petiole 2-5 cm, winged in upper half or wingless; leaf blade obovate to oblong or ovate, 2.5-8.5 × 1.5-3 cm, thinly papery, palmate-pinnate veined, abaxially sparsely villous, adaxially subglabrous, base attenuate, rounded, or cuneate, margin slightly repand, callose-denticulate, apex acute to subobtuse. Capitula subsessile or shortly pedunculate, commonly 2 or 3 clustered, arranged in spikes, (1-)3-flowered; involucre cylindric, ca. 2 mm in diam.; phyllaries ca. 5-seriate, papery, abaxially apically pilose, outer phyllaries ovate, 1.5-2 mm, inner linear, 0.7-1.6 cm. Florets bisexual, chasmogamous and cleistogamous (at different seasons). Chasmogamous floret corollas tubular, ca. 7.5 mm, deeply 5-lobed, lobes oblong, anther appendages rounded. Achenes subfusiform, ca. 1.5 mm, ribbed, glabrous, sometimes apically pilose; pappus absent. Fl. Dec-Apr. Cleistogamous floret corollas closed, tubular, minutely 5-lobed, ca. 3.2 mm, hidden in pappus. Achenes terete, ca. 6 mm, ribbed, glabrous; pappus dark white to dark yellow, ca. 8 mm. Fl. Jun-Mar.

The variation patterns of such characters as leaf morphology and achene pubescence within Ainsliaea henryi and A. reflexa are not clear enough. Extensive field investigation at the population level is needed to clarify this.

● Open forests, stream banks; 700-3900 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan.