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Broxburn is a former shale-oil town on the River Almond, east of Livingston, where the Union Canal runs along the ridge above the town and the Almond valley provides a sheltered foraging corridor below. The town grew from the 1860s shale-oil industry whose legacy is reflected in distinctive red shale bing heaps that now support gorse, broom and grassland habitats on the town margins. The Union Canal towpath above the town carries hawthorn, elder and himalayan balsam; the River Almond below carries willows, alder and bankside hawthorn. Oilseed rape on the farmland between Broxburn and Linlithgow contributes an April-May flow; white clover on the improved pasture is strong through June and July.

Oilseed rape is the defining spring flow in West Lothian — the arable fields between Linlithgow, Bathgate and the Forth shore carry a powerful April-to-May bloom that fills supers quickly. White clover on the improved lowland pastures is the main mid-summer crop from June through July; it is particularly strong on the Livingston amenity grasslands and the Almond valley floor. Sycamore is the dominant May flow tree on road margins, estate plantings and river valley woodlands throughout the council area. The Union Canal towpath carries himalayan balsam from late July through September; bramble is prolific on former shale bing reclamation sites at Broxburn, Winchburgh and Armadale. The Bathgate Hills SSSI provides heather and bilberry moorland for apiaries on the higher ground — a modest but real late-summer upland supplement. Hawthorn on the field hedgerows between Linlithgow and Bathgate provides a reliable May blossom flow; ivy closes the calendar on older stone buildings in October.