A novel actinomycete, designated strain NEAU-zh8(T), was isolated from a root of Viola philippica Car collected in China and characterized using a polyphasic approach. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies showed that strain NEAU-zh8(T) belongs to the genus Micromonospora, being most closely related to Micromonospora chokoriensis 2-9(6)(T) (99.9 %), Micromonospora saelicesensis Lupac 09(T) (99.3 %) and Micromonospora lupini Lupac 14N(T) (99.0 %). gyrB gene analysis also indicated that strain NEAU-zh8(T) should be assigned to the genus Micromonospora. The cell-wall peptidoglycan consisted of meso-diaminopimelic acid and glycine. The major menaquinones were MK-10(H4), MK-10(H2) and MK-10(H6). The phospholipid profile contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol. The major fatty acids were iso-C15:0, C16:0 and C17:0 10-methyl. A combination of DNA-DNA hybridization results and some physiological and biochemical properties indicated that strain NEAU-zh8(T) could be readily distinguished from the closest phylogenetic relatives. Therefore, it is proposed that strain NEAU-zh8(T) represents a novel Micromonospora species, for which the name Micromonospora violae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-zh8(T) (=CGMCC 4.7102(T)=DSM 45888(T)).