Two aerobic, Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterial strains, 5YN10-14(T) and GR21-5(T), were isolated from the Yongneup wetland and ginseng soil in Korea, respectively. The two strains formed ellipsoidal or oval spores positioned centrally or paracentrally in swollen sporangia. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, these strains were related to members of the genus Cohnella. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strains 5YN10-14(T) and GR21-5(T) was 95.9 %. Strains 5YN10-14(T) and GR21-5(T) showed, respectively, 94.3 and 95.2 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Cohnella thermotolerans CCUG 47242(T), 94.6 and 94.4 % to Cohnella hongkongensis HKU3(T), 94.7 and 94.7 % to Cohnella laeviribosi RI-39(T), and 95.4 and 94.8 % to Cohnella phaseoli GSPC1(T). The major fatty acids of strain 5YN10-14(T) were anteiso-C(15 : 0) (51.1 %), iso-C(16 : 0) (18.5 %) and C(16 : 0) (13.2 %), and the major fatty acids of strain GR21-5(T) were anteiso-C(15 : 0 ) (48.9 %), iso-C(16 : 0) (15.0 %) and iso-C(15 : 0) (12.2 %). The two strains contained menaquinone with seven isoprene units (MK-7) as the predominant quinone, and diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine as major polar lipids; however, strain 5YN10-14(T) also contained lysylphosphatidylglycerol as a major polar lipid, whereas strain GR21-5(T) had an unknown aminophospholipid as another major polar lipid. The DNA G+C contents of strains 5YN10-14(T) and GR21-5(T) were 58.8 and 61.3 mol%, respectively. Based on the results of the phylogenetic and phenotypic data presented, it was concluded that the two strains represent two novel species of the genus Cohnella , for which the names Cohnella yongneupensis sp. nov. (type strain 5YN10-14(T)=KACC 11768(T)=DSM 18998(T)) and Cohnella ginsengisoli sp. nov. (type strain GR21-5(T)=KACC 11771(T)=DSM 18997(T)) are proposed.