An endophytic actinomycete strain, designated Hhs.015(T), was isolated from roots of cucumber seedlings. The endophytic isolate was identified by means of a polyphasic taxonomic approach. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, strain Hhs.015(T) was closely related to members of the genus Saccharothrix. DNA-DNA hybridization with the four closest relatives, Saccharothrix longispora NRRL B-16116(T), Saccharothrix xinjiangensis NRRL B-24321(T), Saccharothrix autraliensis CGMCC 4.1355(T) and Saccharothrix espanaensis CGMCC 4.1714(T), gave similarity values of 33.8, 28.2, 44.1 and 29.5%, respectively, which indicated that strain Hhs.015(T) represents a novel species of the genus Saccharothrix. This is consistent with the morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic data. As a whole, these results suggest that strain Hhs.015(T) represents a novel Saccharothrix species. The name Saccharothrix yanglingensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain Hhs.015(T) (=CGMCC 4.5627(T) = KCTC 19722(T)).