FWIW, the biscuits I've gotten in California are the same type as the biscuits I've gotten in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. I've never had a drop biscuit during any of my visits to the south; I've always had the kind that are rolled and cut.
My mom used to make drop biscuits, though. They used the same sort of dough, only a little wetter than the rolled stuff.
buttermilk biscuit (rolled)