Rituals of death and rebirth
Trees figure in rituals of death and rebirth - Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough gives many examples including Chapter 9, The Worship of the Tree-Spirit and Chapter 28, The Killing of the Tree-Spirit. They commonly have personifications in the forms of dryads, and the death of a dryad results in the death of a tree and vice versa―people have worried about trees, conservation and renewal issues since time immemorial, as so many cultures are intrinsically reliant on wood and trees for shelter, heat and food.
Crops and flowers also feature-from John Barleycorn to the legend of Persephone, The Waste Land to Hiawatha, the death and return to life of the hero or other characters are linked to crop cycles. Noticing that crops and plants "die" but are reborn each spring is an early observation in every culture, and feeds mythologies - Attis and Osiris, Gilgamesh - journeys into the realms of death symbolise winter and the "death" of crops, a triumphant return the spring, rebirth and fertility anew.
Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead.
William Blake, Proverbs of Hell