Two Gram-positive-staining, endospore-forming, rod-shaped, motile bacteria, strains DCY35(T) and C17, were isolated from soil of a ginseng field in South Korea and were characterized in order to determine their taxonomic positions. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the two strains belonged to the family Paenibacillaceae; strain DCY35(T) showed highest levels of similarity to strain C17 (99.9 %), Brevibacillus invocatus LMG 18962(T) (98.9 %), B. centrosporus DSM 8445(T) (98.0 %), B. borstelensis DSM 6347(T) (97.6 %), B. formosus DSM 9885(T) (97.4 %), B. agri DSM 6348(T) (97.3 %), B. brevis DSM 30(T) (97.3 %) and B. levickii LMG 22481(T) (97.0 %). Chemotaxonomic analyses revealed that strains DCY35(T) and C17 possess menaquinone MK-7, common to members of the genus Brevibacillus, and that the predominant fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) (37.3 % of the total), anteiso-C(15 : 0) (32.9 %), iso-C(14 : 0) (11.8 %) and iso-C(16 : 0) (6.5 %). The results of physiological and biochemical tests clearly demonstrated that strains DCY35(T) and C17 represent a distinct species. Based on these data, the two strains are considered to represent a novel species of the genus Brevibacillus, for which the name Brevibacillus panacihumi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DCY35(T) (=KCTC 13206(T) =JCM 15085(T)).