Maybe if you sent us a picture of the washed "tuber", some of us could identify it that way.

Did they by any chance have any above ground foliage at all? I know some folks refer to Cannas as canna lilies, but you are probably familiar with their foliage and rhizomes.

I too think we could maybe identify what it is you have if you post a pic.

Sue

Here is a photo I took last night.

No definitely not a canna lilly.

Those look an awful lot like bearded iris rhizomes to me......not sure where the 'regular lily' description comes into the picture :-) Irises are NOT lilies nor even related to them.

Real lilies - members of the genus Lilium - are true bulbs and will have a typical looking bulbous base. Not a rhizome, tuber or fleshy roots.

I have tons and tons of tall bearded Irises and before I cut the foliage down, it definitely was not Iris foliage. However, I also agree that they aren't lily bulbs. So what the heck are they? I'm really confused now. I'm texting her now.

I don't know what to tell you :-) That looks exactly like every other iris rhizome I've ever seen, as does what appears to be the remains of a flower stalk (just to the left of the remaining foliage) and the cut back foliage. In fact, the way the foliage is aligned in the beginning of a fan is one of the identifiers that immediately jumped out at me. If I had a digital camera handy, I'd dig up one of my own, cut off the leaf blades to a couple of inches and post it for comparison.

There are other species of iris that develop or grow from rhizomes....could it be one of these? But the foliage on all will be somewhat similar. What is it about the foliage that appeared un-iris like to you?

I'd be interest to know your friend's response. As well as the opinions of other posters.

Yeah, another vote for beaded Iris.
Lily bulbs look like these:

Yet another vote for one of the bearded Iris group. The rhizomes, roots, and leaf remainders look just like them.

I too think it is some sort of Iris. The rhizome with the leaves cut back, is a daughter rhizome attached to a mother rhizome that bloomed this year...note the dead stalk and the withering roots on the mother.

Sue

She texted back and was like oops sorry, I told you wrong. They are bearded Iris, yellow and another color she didn't remember. I just had it in my head that they were lilies since she had said they were. They were grown up in big groups and hadn't been divided for a long time so the foliage was floppy and looked like individual leaves and not fanned. Of course, I was in a big hurry when I dug them and it was dark when I planted them so I don't know that I ever got a good look. I have tons of Irises already but at least I don't have any yellow. I just have to dig and replant because they're planted too deep for Iris.