In 2003 to 2005, the root rot of Japanese angelica (Aralia elata) was surveyed in nursery beds of Korea, where incidence of the disease often reached up to 100%. Three isolates were obtained from the infected roots, and identified as Phytophthora cactorum on the basis of cultural, morphological characteristics and molecular analysis. The isolates were characterized by having markedly papillate and broadly ovoid deciduous sporangia. The optimum temperature for mycelium growth was at 25 oC on V8 juice agar. Pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed by soil mixture inoculation. Approximately 900 bp of ITS rDNA was amplified from all 3 isolates and band pattern of restriction fragments observed by Alu I, Msp I, and Taq I digestion also supported the result of the morphological identification when compared with PhytID database.