A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium, strain LOOC204T, was isolated from corn silage that had been prepared and stored in Hokkaido, Japan. The isolate grew well at 4-37 °C and at pH 6.0-8.5. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0, iso-C14 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. The major menaquinone was MK-7. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, three unidentified aminophospholipids, one unidentified phospholipid, two unidentified aminolipids and three unidentified lipids were detected as the cellular polar lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of LOOC204T was 52.2±0.7 mol%. A comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that LOOC204T represented a member of the genus Paenibacillus, and high levels of sequence similarity of LOOC204T with Paenibacillus borealis KK19T (97.5 %) and Paenibacillusjilunlii Be17T (97.4 %) were found. Based on sequence analysis of the RNA polymerase β subunit (rpoB) gene, LOOC204T was clearly separated from its phylogenetic neighbors in the genus Paenibacillus. DNA-DNA hybridisation experiments showed that LOOC204T displayed less than 40 % reassociation values toward its nearest phylogenetic neighbours of the genus Paenibacillus, indicating the unique taxonomic status of LOOC204T. Based on these data, we conclude that strain LOOC204T represents a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, named Paenibacillus silageisp. nov. The type strain is LOOC204T (=JCM 30974T=DSM 101953T).