A strain of Streptosporangium with an unusual phospholipid pattern was isolated from Yunnan Province, a region in China. The isolate, designated CY-7113T, was identified by morphological and physiological properties, cell chemistry, genomic DNA GMC content, DNA–DNA hybridization and phylogenetic analysis. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, DNA–DNA hybridization, phenotypic characteristics and its unusual phospholipid pattern, it was concluded that strain CY-7113T belongs to a novel Streptosporangium species, for which the name Streptosporangium subroseum sp. nov. is proposed. Strain CY-7113T (=CCTCC 97008T=CRC 16302T) is the type strain.