A novel bacterial strain, designated DCY54(T), was isolated from a field cultivated with ginseng in Yongin, Republic of Korea. Cells were Gram-reaction-negative, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, and strictly aerobic. They were motile by gliding and produced flexirubin-type pigments. Growth occurred optimally at 25-30 �XC, at pH 5.0-7.0 and in the presence of 0-1 % NaCl. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis demonstrated that strain DCY54(T) was most closely related to Flavobacterium defluvii EMB117(T) (96.9 %). The only isoprenoid quinone of strain DCY 54(T) was menaquinone-6 (MK-6) and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid and one unidentified lipid. The major cellular fatty acids (>15 %) were iso-C15 : 0, summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1�s7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH) and C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content was 33.3 mol%. Phylogenetic inference and phenotypic data supported affiliation of strain DCY54(T) to the genus Flavobacterium. Several physiological and biochemical tests differentiated strain DCY54(T) from the species of the genus Flavobacterium with validly published names. On the basis of data from a polyphasic study, strain DCY54(T) represents a novel species of the genus Flavobacterium for which the name Flavobacterium ginsengisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DCY54(T) (= KCTC 23318(T) = JCM 17336(T)).