A novel bacterium, strain blls-2(T) was isolated from Pu'er tea. The isolate was Gram-positive, endospore-forming motile rod that grew at 15 approximately 42 degrees C and pH 6.0 approximately 10.2. The DNA G+C content was 48.3 mol%, the predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7, and the predominant cellular fatty acid was anteiso-C15:0 (54.2%) followed by C16:0 (15.5%) and iso-C16:0 (8.2%). The polar lipid pattern of blls-2(T) was characterized by the presence of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol. Phy-logenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain was affiliated within the Paenibacillaceae. The strain was most closely related to Paenibacillus granivorans A30(T), with a similarity of 97.1%. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic characteristics of strain blls-2(T), the isolate is thought to represent a novel taxon in the genus Paenibacillus. The name Paenibacillus camelliae sp. nov. is proposed for the fermented tea isolate; the type strain is blls-2(T) (= KCTC 13220(T)= CECT 7361(T)).