Career
His herbarium, comprising more than 5000 specimens from over 160 collectors and 50 countries was purchased in 1863 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller for the sum of 80 pounds. The herbarium was compiled by Steetz over more than thirty years and comprises sets of plants collected throughout the world, including type specimens from prominent plant collectors of the time including:
Christian Friedrich Ecklon and Karl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher (South Africa)
Charles Wilkin Short (North America)
Ludwig Preiss (Western Australia)
Anton Rochel (The Banat)
Nikolai Turczaninow (Russia)
Jens Vahl (Arctic)
Anderson (Galápagos Islands)
The collection is currently housed at the National Herbarium of Victoria.