Chimeras

In Greek mythology a chimera was a creature composed by parts taken from various animals.
This term is also used in genetics to describe a single organism composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype.

African violet chimera

Striped violets or pinwheels

African violet chimeras are a special type of African violets which have striped flowers (or leaves) and sometimes are called pinwheels.

Two genetic information

They, as other plant chimeras, contain two genetic information. 

That is why they cannot be propagated by leaves, but they only can be propagated by suckers to bloom true.

Normally, when African violet is propagated by leaves, the new plant will be identical to the “mother” plant. This is because the cells in the leaves are the same as any other cell in any other part of the violet. But this is not true for African violet chimeras.
And that is also what makes them so special and rare.