The senior Russian sericulture (silk farming) inspector Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein employed Steven as his assistant in 1800.

In his later life Steven studied the flora of Crimea, where he settled, but he had also collected numerous specimens from the Lower Volga area at the start of his career.

Allium sabulosum was described by Alexander von Bunge, whereas Adonis volgensis and Delphinium cuneatum were described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1818.

[3] The botanist Robert Lyall said "one of the first naturalists of the age [is] Mr Christian Steven who after having travelled in the Caucasus Georgia and the Crimea has been appointed director of the botanic garden at Nikita on the southern coast where he spends several months in the year".

[5] Steven's letters written in 1828–1863 to professor Alexander von Nordmann are maintained in the archives of Finnish national library.