A Frenchman in Revolution is not the first plant (8)
I believe the answer is:
cyclamen
'plant' is the definition.
'a frenchman in revolution is not the first' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'frenchman' could be 'm' (abbreviation for Monsieur - like 'Mr') and 'm' is present in the answer.
'revolution' could be 'cycle' (I've seen this before) and 'cycle' is found within the remaining letters.
A single letter 'n' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cyclamen that I've seen before include "House plant with backward turned petals" , "Flower giving its name to a shade of pink" , "Reddish-purple (flower from corm)" , "Small flower with tuberous roots" , "Perennial" .)