Mandragora turcomanica was first discovered in the south-western Kopet Dag mountains in Turkmenistan. Ungricht et al. queried whether it might also occur in the same mountain chain across the border in Iran. It was reported in Iran in 2003, near the village of Dahaneh close to the Golestan National Park. It was growing in gardens, where it had been transplanted from wild sources. In Turkmenistan, the species grows in shrubland, in ravines and on stony mountain slopes, especially among Paliurus spina-christi, at altitudes of .