Keep seeing the claim that this "only grows" in Nepal and Turkey stated as fact. Is that geographically accurate, or is it conflating where the plant exists with where the industry happens to be concentrated?
the rhododendron species involved exist in other regions too, parts of the Caucasus and elsewhere have similar species. whats actually concentrated in Nepal and Turkey is the harvesting tradition and commercial production, not the the plant itself. those are two different claims
Other regions do have the right plants growing, but the specific cliff harvesting tradition and the scale of production really is concentrated in a few places. so "only grows there" is wrong, "thats where its actually harvested and sold" is right.
So "only grows there" is marketing shorthand for "thats where the supply chain acutally is." not the same claim at all.
Right, conflating plant distribution with market concentration is a pretty common shortcut, worth correcting when it comes up.