Catherine Alexander (married name Rowe; 8 December 1862 – 17 March 1928) was a New Zealand botanist, and the first known woman to publish a paper in the Royal Society Te Apārangi's Transactions in 1886.

[4] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with first-class honours in botany and second-class honors in English in 1885 and then worked at Christchurch Girls' High School as an assistant teacher until her marriage.

[5] By the time her paper was read before the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1886, Alexander was teaching at high school.

Rowe was principal of Rangiora High School, and Alexander was assistant mistress, taking charge of the younger pupils, for a time.

[2] In 1893, Rowe was appointed as the first librarian in the Wellington City Library, but by 1904 the family had returned to Christchurch.