The type strain DCY99T was isolated from soil collected from a ginseng field in Hwacheon, Republic of Korea. Strain DCY99T is Gram-negative, non-spore forming, motile, rod-shaped, and strictly aerobic. The bacteria grow optimally at 25–30 °C and pH 6.0–6.5. Phylogenetically, strain DCY99T is most closely related to Sphingomonas oligophenolica JCM 12082T, followed by Sphingomonas asaccharolytica KCTC 2825T, Sphingomonas mali KCTC 2826T, Sphingomonas cynarae JCM17498T, Sphingomonas pruni KCTC 2824T, and Sphingomonas glacialis DSM 22294T. The DNA–DNA relatedness between strain DCY99T and S. oligophenolica JCM 12082T was 15.6 ± 0.4 %, and the DNA G+C content of strain DCY99T was 64.4 mol%. An isoprenoid quinone was detected and identified as ubiquinone Q-10, and sym-homospermidine was identified as the major polyamine of DCY99T. The major polar lipids were identified as sphingoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylcholine. C14:02OH, C16:0, and summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c:/C18:1 ω6c) were identified as the major fatty acids present in DCY99T. The results of physiological and biochemical tests allowed strain DCY99T to be differentiated phenotypically from other recognized species belonging to the genus Sphingomonas. Therefore, it is suggested that the newly isolated organism represents a novel species, for which the name Sphingomonas panacis sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain designated as DCY99T (=JCM 30806T =KCTC 42347T).