Padma Purana (Bhumi Khanda, Chapter 11, Verses 16–18) that build the metaphor of the tree of delusion (moha) and greed (lobha).
Sanskrit Text
लोभः पापस्य बीजं हि मोहं मूलं च तस्य हि ।
असत्यं तस्य स्कन्धं वै माया शाखा सुविस्तरा ॥ १६ ॥
दम्भकौटिल्यपत्राणि कुबुद्ध्या पुष्पितः सदा ।
नृशंसं तस्य सौगन्धं फलमज्ञानमेव च ॥ १७ ॥
छद्मपाखण्डचौर्येर्ष्याः क्रूराः कूटाश्च पापिनः ।
पक्षिणो मोहवृक्षस्य मायाशाखाः समाश्रिताः ॥ १८ ॥
lobhaḥ pāpasya bījaṃ hi mohaṃ mūlaṃ ca tasya hi |
asatyaṃ tasya skandhaṃ vai māyā śākhā suvistarā || 16 ||
dambhakauṭilyapatrāṇi kubuddhyā puṣpitaḥ sadā |
nṛśaṃsaṃ tasya saugandhaṃ phalamajñānameva ca || 17 ||
chadmapākhaṇḍacauryerṣyāḥ krūrāḥ kūṭāśca pāpinaḥ |
pakṣiṇo mohavṛkṣasya māyāśākhāḥ samāśritāḥ || 18 ||
Verse 16:
lobhaḥ — greed; pāpasya — of sin; bījaṃ — the seed; hi — indeed; mohaṃ — delusion; mūlaṃ — the root; ca — and tasya — its (of the tree) hi — indeed; asatyaṃ — falsehood; tasya — its; skandhaṃ — trunk; vai — indeed; māyā — maya; śākhā — branch; suvistarā — well-expanded
Verse 17:
dambha — hypocrisy; kauṭilya — crookedness; patrāṇi — leaves (dambhakauṭilyapatrāṇi = having hypocrisy and crookedness as leaves)
kubuddhyā — by wicked intellect; puṣpitaḥ — flowered; sadā — always; nṛśaṃsaṃ — cruelty / deception; tasya — its; saugandhaṃ — fragrance; phalam — fruit; ajñānam — ignorance; eva — indeed; ca — and
Verse 18:
chadma — dishonesty; pākhaṇḍa — heresy; caurya — theft; īrṣyāḥ — envy; krūrāḥ — cruel; kūṭāḥ — false / deceptive; ca — and; pāpinaḥ — sinful; pakṣiṇaḥ — birds; mohavṛkṣasya — of the tree of delusion; māyāśākhāḥ — the branches of deceit; samāśritāḥ — have taken shelter / resorted to
Greed is indeed the seed of sin, and delusion is its root.
Falsehood is its trunk, and deceit is its well-expanded branch.
Hypocrisy and crookedness are its leaves; it is always flowered with a wicked intellect.
Deception is its fragrance, and ignorance is its ultimate fruit.
The sinful, cruel birds of dishonesty, heresy, theft, and envy take shelter in the branches of deceit of this tree of delusion.