A pink-pigmented, facultatively methylotrophic bacterium, strain CBMB20T, isolated from stem tissues of rice, was analysed by a polyphasic approach. Strain CBMB20T utilized 1-aminocyclopropane 1-carboxylate (ACC) as a nitrogen source and produced ACC deaminase. It was related phylogenetically to members of the genus Methylobacterium. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain CBMB20T was most closely related to Methylobacterium fujisawaense, Methylobacterium radiotolerans and Methylobacterium mesophilicum; however, DNA-DNA hybridization values were less than 70 % with the type strains of these species. The DNA G+C content of strain CBMB20T was 70.6 mol%. The study presents a detailed phenotypic characterization of strain CBMB20T that allows its differentiation from other Methylobacterium species. In addition, strain CBMB20T is the only known member of the genus Methylobacterium to be described from the phyllosphere of rice. Based on the data presented, strain CBMB20T represents a novel species in the genus Methylobacterium, for which the name Methylobacterium oryzae sp. nov. is proposed, with strain CBMB20T (=DSM 18207T=LMG 23582T=KACC 11585T) as the type strain.