In a project aiming to isolate strains with the ability to produce nonribosomal peptides, a gram-negative, endospore-forming, rod-shaped strain, designated B5(T), was isolated from a soil sample collected from Tianmu Mountain national natural reserve in Hangzhou, China. Strain B5(T) contained meso-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall peptidoglycan. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15:0) and iso-C(15:0). The DNA G+C content was 42.5 mol%. The phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain B5(T) fell within the genus Bacillus, with highest sequence similarity values to Bacillus barbaricus DSM 14730(T) (96.4%) and Bacillus macauensis JCM 13285(T) (95.5%). The isolate, however, could be distinguished from Bacillus strains with validly published names by low 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values, distinct phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics. On the basis of these polyphasic evidences, it is demonstrated that the isolate B5(T) represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus tianmuensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is B5(T) (=DSM 22111(T)=CGMCC 1.8879(T)).