Robin:
The only references I find say it is a hybrid but nothing beyond that. It originates out of GroLink which is a plant
producer but the website seems to be disconnected for the season.The other thing was a reference to the "best of breed 2007.But lots of references to Mentha cervina Barts
Pennyroyal.
Art

I grew this one last year (2008) and to me it looked like it S. blepharophylla. It was quite floriferous over a long period but was very floppy. I had it in the front of a border but it probably would have been much better in a container. I, too, tried to find out exactly what this cultivar was derived from but was unable to turn anything up. It really bugs me when no information on parentage is provided.

Me too. I just picked one up at a nursery near Sanford, NC, and the young flower head reminds me of S. blepharophylla Dulces Nombres.

I've got a volunteer blepharophylla that I will photograph soon. The flowers are the same size and shade as Diablo, but the flowers are a solid red, with no other colors or structures showing within the perimeter of the flower. I'll have to do a side-by side with the other forms.

I got one of these in Sanford last year -- it's in bloom now in the greenhouse. I couldn't find out anything about it when I looked last year, but this morning I found and then searched on the patent number, yielding this: "The new cultivar is a product of open pollination of Salvia stephavophylla in September 2003..." My guess would be that someone's handwriting was a little blurry on three of the letters, and so a new species is created the internet.

I find it interesting that the comparison chosen to illustrate the novel features of 'Cervina' for the patent is a Salvia pratensis cultivar. Do they really not require a more similar species or hybrid comparison to patent a new cultivar?

Here is a link that might be useful: salvia 'cervina' info