Article (magazine)  (Mar 2019)  
 
I consider that the wild form of a rose has only five petals, and that if a rose gives flowers with more petals, it should be regarded as an irregularly mutated plant or a cultivar. The next action I took was to look at the photo of the type specimen of Linné stored in the herbarium of the Linnean Society in London (http://linnean-online.org/4815/). The photo I saw met my expectation. The number of petals counted was between ten and fifteen, not five.
Rosa gallica is named by Carl von Linné in his book “Species Plantarum” (1753). The description given to it is very short: “ROSA foliis carinatis subtus scabris. Dalib. Paris. 145. Habitat in Gallia.” There are no comments on the number of petals, but just about the shape of leaves.
François Crépin wrote about the name of R. gallica in pp. 11-12 of his article “La question de la priorité des noms spécifiques envisagée au point de vue du Genre Rosa (The question of the priority of specific names considered from the viewpoint of the genus Rosa)” in “Extrait du Bulletin de l’Herbier Boissier” Tome V. No 3. Mars 1897. Crépin said, ‘Nous sommes donc ici devant un nom princeps tout à fait énigmatique et que l’on applique depuis longtemps à la plus belle espèce du genre en Europe. (So here we face a very enigmatic original name that has been applied for a long time to the most beautiful species of its kind in Europe.)’ and ‘Lors de la publication de la 2me édition de son Species, avait-il vu des spécimens du R. gallica sauvage à fleurs simples? C’est ce qu’il est difficile de dire, même en consultant son herbier. (When he (= Linné) published the 2nd edition of his Species (= Species Plantarum), had he seen specimens of R. gallica wild with single flowers? This is difficult to say, even by consulting his herbarium.)’....
The type specimen has absolute authority for botanists. In this case, the type specimen of R. gallica has a double flower. We should separate the wild form with single flowers from the original R. gallica described by Linné. We need a name for it, and further discussion about R. gallica var. officinalis Thory. How can we identify R. gallica var. officinalis from the R. gallica described by Linné?
 

Book  (2018)  Page(s) 537.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosa gallica L.
...northern, central and easten Europe, Greece, Bularia, Caucasia, Irak and Turkey. In our country spreads Edirne, Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, İstanbul, Çanakkale, Ordu, Gumuşhane, Ankara and Erzincan regions.
 

Newsletter  (Feb 2010)  Page(s) 39.  
 
Major Chemical Compounds (%) responsible for fragrance in Selected Cultivars....
Rosa gallica Phenylethanol 41.8

Article (magazine)  (2009)  Page(s) 31.  
 
R. gallica L.   Source CBGC [Conservatoire Botanique de Gap Charance] Chromosome Number 28

Website/Catalog  (2009)  
 
Rosa rubra Blackw. Synonym : R. gallica Linn.

Habitat : Indian gardens.
English : French Rose.
Ayurvedic : Rakta-Taruni (nonclassical), Gulaab.

Action : Dried petals—tonic and astringent. Used in debility, excessive mucous discharges and bowel complaints. The oil and rose water—used in bronchial asthma and as a remedy for skin irritation. The flowers yield 0.027–0.036% of an essential oil. It contains geraniol 40–76, l-citronellol 15–37, nerol 5–10, phenyl ethyl alcohol 3–9, eugenol 1, esters 3–5, phenyl acetic acid traces; and stearoptene 15–30%; citronellol, citral, farnesol, l-linalool and nonylaldehyde are also present. (The flowers, unlike those of Rosa damascena, develop their perfume when dried.)

The petals also contain fatty oil, sugars (3–14% as invert), tannin (Rosa tannic acid 10–24%), cyanin (up to 10%), cyanidin and quercitrin. The pollen contains carotene (1.67 mg/100 g), free and bound amino acids and sugars.Fresh hips and their pulp contain 545 and 847 mg/100 g vitamin C respectively.

Article (magazine)  (2006)  Page(s) 19.  
 
...R. gallica and Damask rose possess a typical European scent, rich in monoterpenes and phenylethanol but devoid of phenolic methyl ethers...data suggests that the European species do not synthesize DMT [3,5-dimethoxytoluene] because they lack active OOMT [Orcinol O-methyltransferase] enzymes.

Article (magazine)  (2006)  Page(s) 26.  
 
...neither OOMT [Orcinol O-Methyltransferase enzyme] activity nor OOMT protein could be detected in the floral organs of [R. gallica and Damask rose]. The genomes of both R. gallica and Damask rose contain OOMT homologous sequences, but these genes are not expressed at detectable levels in either floral organs or leaves....

Book  (2005)  Page(s) Vol. I, p. 337.  Includes photo(s).
 
Rosaceae (Gülgiller), Rosa gallica (Kırmızı gül), Provence Rose. 5 petals. to 0.90 m. North-west, north-central and central Turkey. Shrubs, maquis, river and lake shores, sandy areas, rocky areas. 30-400 m. May-June. Perennial woody plant.

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 84.  
 
R. gallica Species, deep pink, before 1867. Rated 8.9

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 393.  
 
R. gallica L. Ploidy 4x
Pollen fertitility 97.2%
Selfed Fruit set 55.0%
Self Seed set 6.9% 03