Ten atypical Enterococcus strains were isolated from Italian raw milk cheeses. The 16S rRNA gene, phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase alpha subunit (pheS), RNA polymerase alpha subunit (rpoA) and the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR and the phenotypic properties revealed that the isolates represent a novel enterococcal species. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolates were closely related to Enterococcus hirae ATCC 8043(T), Enterococcus durans CECT 411(T) and Enterococcus faecium ATCC 19434(T), with 98.8, 98.9 and 99.4% sequence similarity, respectively. On the basis of sequence analysis of the housekeeping gene pheS, the reference strain, BT159(T), occupied a position separate from E. faecium LMG 16198. The group of isolates could be easily differentiated from recognized species of the genus Enterococcus by 16S-23S rRNA ITS analysis, RAPD-PCR and phenotypic characteristics. The name Enterococcus lactis sp. nov. is proposed, with BT159(T) ( = DSM 23655(T) = LMG 25958(T)) as the type strain.