Alder or "brown", which is also a root for the English words "elk" and another tree: "elm", a tree distantly related to the alders. With a few exceptions, alders are deciduous, and the leaves are alternate, simple, and serrated. The flowers are catkins with elongate male catkins on the same plant as shorter female catkins, often before leaves appear; they are mainly wind-pollinated, but also visited by bees to a small extent. These trees differ from the birches ("Betula", another genus in the family) in that the female catkins are woody and do not disintegrate at maturity, opening to release the
Northern Hemisphere to draw air toward it in a counter-clockwise pattern. Hurricanes and tropical storms (massive low-pressure systems) spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The shadow of a sundial moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (opposite of the Southern Hemisphere). During the day, the Sun tends to rise to its maximum at a southerly position except between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, where the sun can be seen to the north, directly overhead, or to the south at noon dependent on the time of year. When viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon appears inverted compared to a view from