It is a deciduous tree with opposite leaves and can attain heights of 45 m (148 ft) and grow to be 1000 years old.

[citation needed] The epithet is named after the Irish botanist and sinologist Augustine Henry.

The first time that Emmenopterys henryi flowered in mainland Europe was 1971 in the arboretum of Villa Taranto on Lago Maggiore, Italy.

[6] In 2013, a tree flowered for the fourth time in the Arboretum Kalmthout in Belgium.

[7] After the 2018 heatwave in the UK, a 100 year old specimen in Roath Park, Cardiff flowered for the first time ever.