Poplar Sapling is the plantable young form of the poplar tree, added to Minecraft in Java 26.3. Poplar Sapling comes from poplar leaves: each decaying or broken leaf has a 5% chance to drop a sapling, the Fortune III enchantment raises the rate to 10%, and shears or Silk Touch never drop a sapling. Poplar trees generate naturally only in the dappled forest biome; when the trip is too far, a wandering trader may sell one sapling for 5 emeralds. Poplar Sapling breaks instantly with any tool — bare hands included — always drops itself, stacks to 64, and counts as a renewable resource because a grown poplar's leaves drop new saplings.

Planted on dirt, a grass block, podzol, farmland, mud, or a moss block, Poplar Sapling passes through two growth stages and then becomes one of three poplars — orange, yellow, or red — with the leaf color chosen at random; natural growth requires light level 9 or higher, while bone meal triggers an immediate growth attempt even in darkness. A 2×2 square of poplar saplings never grows into a tree, so plant every Poplar Sapling alone. When a Poplar Sapling grows on a grass block, the grass block turns to dirt. Beyond tree farming, Poplar Sapling serves as furnace fuel (0.5 items smelted per sapling), gives a 30% chance to raise a composter level by 1 — a stack of 64 averages 2.74 bone meal — and sits in a flower pot as decoration.