A Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacterium was isolated from the soil of a ginseng field in Daejeon, South Korea, and characterized in order to determine its taxonomic position. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain DCY34(T) belonged to the family Sphingomonadaceae, and the highest degree of sequence similarity was found with Sphingopyxis witflariensis W-50(T) (97.1 %), Sphingopyxis ginsengisoli Gsoil 250(T) (97.0 %), Sphingopyxis chilensis S37(T) (96.9 %), Sphingopyxis macrogoltabida IFO 15033(T) (96.8 %), Sphingopyxis alaskensis RB2256(T) (96.7 %) and Sphingopyxis taejonensis JSS54(T) (96.7 %). Chemotaxonomic data revealed that strain DCY34(T) possessed ubiquinone Q-10 as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone, which is common to members of the genus Sphingopyxis. The predominant fatty acids were C₁₈:₁ω7c (27.5 %), summed feature 4 (C₁₆:₁ω7c and/or C₁₅ :₀ iso 2-OH; 18.6 %), C₁₆:₀ (15.6 %) and summed feature 8 (C₁₉:₁ω6c and/or unknown 18.864; 15.4 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, sphingoglycolipid and an unknown polar lipid. The results of physiological and biochemical tests clearly demonstrated that strain DCY34(T) represented a separate species and supported its affiliation to the genus Sphingopyxis. Based on these data, the new isolate represents a novel species, for which the name Sphingopyxis panaciterrulae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DCY34(T) (=KCTC 22112(T)=JCM 14844(T)).