A Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming bacterial strain designated IBFC2009T was isolated from soil of a bamboo plantation. The strain could grow at 11°C~39°C, pH 6.0~9.0, and in the presence of 0~5% NaCl. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, Strain IBFC2009T belonged to the genus Sphingobacterium and showed the highest sequence similarity of 94.6% (S. composti T5-12T) with the type strains within the genus. The major fatty acids were summed feature 3 (iso-C15:0 2-OH and/or C16:1 ω7c, 34.4%), iso-C15:0 (22.4%), C16:0 3-OH (15.2%), and iso-C17:0 3-OH (12.8%). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 41.0 mol%. According to the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, Strain IBFC2009T should represent a novel species of the genus Sphingobacterium, for which the name Sphingobacterium bambusae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IBFC2009T (=CCTCC AB 209162T =KCTC 22814T).