A novel fungus, named Tolypocladium cylindrosporum syzx4, which can efficiently produce extracellular β-glucosidase, was isolated from naturally rotten corn stover. It is first time to report the β-glucosidase produced by T. cylindrosporum gams using agro-industrial residues in SmF. The fermentation variables optimized by single-factor experiment approach were further optimized by statistical optimization. Results of Plackett-Burman design indicated the evaluation of the medium components could be ranked as: TCS>KH2PO4>SM=(NH4)2SO4. With the optimum medium, viz. TCS 25.72 g/L, SM 6.82 g/L, KH2PO4 1.90 g/L and (NH4)2SO4 3.21 g/L predicted by RSM model with others as the original, 2.21 U/mL β-glucosidase activity was obtained. The results suggest that the β-glucosidase can be used for various biotechnological applications.