About the name
Name. 🇫🇷 'La France' = 'France'. A poetic, patriotic name — Guillot dedicated his revolutionary rose to his native country. In 1867, when France was preparing for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, La France became a symbol of the French breeding school.
Breeding. Bred by Jean-Baptiste André Guillot fils (1827–1893), son of the equally famous Jean-Baptiste Guillot père. Nursery in Lyon (France). Introduced 1867. Parentage officially: 'seedling of Madame Falcot' (HelpMeFind); according to scientific research — possibly Madame Bravy (Tea) × Victor Verdier (Hybrid Perpetual). GUILLOT FOUND IT BY CHANCE among a batch of seedlings, not through a systematic cross.
Significance. THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN ROSE: La France is generally recognised as the first Hybrid Tea rose in breeding history. Wikipedia: 'its appearance is considered the birth of the modern rose'. The Hybrid Tea class was officially recognised in the 1880s precisely thanks to La France. A revolutionary combination of two qualities: Tea-type fragrance (from Madame Bravy) + Hybrid Perpetual-type abundance of repeat flowering — such qualities had never before existed in one variety. All modern HT XX-XXI roses (Peace, Mister Lincoln, Crimson Glory, Elina, Touch of Class, Ingrid Bergman) are genetic descendants of La France. 159 years in cultivation without a break. NOT in the WFRS Old Rose Hall of Fame (checked against the official list at worldrose.org) — A HISTORICAL PARADOX: the variety that created the whole Hybrid Tea class is formally not inducted into the Hall of Fame. There are NO major international awards (in 1867 such medals did not yet exist).