Wicked, wild, and wonderful decorations.

• Position: Museums Today - American Museum of Natural History's Origami Christmas Tree and Holiday Barosaurs - Brief article

An annual American Museum of Natural History tradition--the delightfully decorated Origami Christmas Tree and two merrily lit 19-foot Holiday Barosaurs--welcomes visitors to the New York landmark throughout the holiday season.

The theme of this year's 13-foot tree is "Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful," with ornaments inspired by the exhibition, "The Power of Poison. The tree displays models folded by local, national, and international origami artists. Expect to see snakes, fire ants, mushrooms, tarantulas, scorpions, poison ivy, toxic frogs, textile snails, and jellyfish, as well as characters from literature, including witches from William Shakespeare's Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective series.

On display in the Grand Gallery through Jan. 12, 2014, the tree is an annual tourist attraction: each year, a different theme relates to an...