Please help ID ...bulb or root...weed?

We found these growing next to ornamental bushes we had to cut down. They look like huge brown/yellow striped potatoes, and are fibrous. I think a vine grows out from them, with sparse leaves and thorns on the vine. Zone 8, SC.

They look more like a tuber than a bulb, but are definitely not a root. If it's in a place you don't want it to be, dig up the tubers, put them in a big pot, and wait to see what grows. Then you can decide whether to replant them (and where) or throw them out.

I can't identify the plant just from these tubers. I hope someone else can. If you don't get an ID here I suggest you repost this in the Plant and Tree ID forum (http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/plantid/all/). The people over there are amazing!

This message was edited Mar 11, 2011 3:46 PM

Here is another picture. I hosed them off with a strong spray. They are very difficult to dig up, and I will need to use a pick axe to do it. The neighbor was able to with his scraper on his tractor. I will try to dig one out and take a picture.

Hmmmmm..... Now I wonder if they ARE some kind of root. Usually bulbs/tubers aren't that difficult to dig up, especially when they're already mostly on the surface.

I recommend that you repost this on the Plant and Tree ID forum.

Those tubers look a little bit like Ginger. Just guessing.

The kind of ginger that is in the background of this photo>

I have already many times dealt with the vines growing out of them. Unless they are a ginger relative. I buy traditional ginger root all the time, and eat it...but even it is not as fibrous as these are.
South Carolina seems to have alot of native flora that I will need to get acquainted with and identify.

It looks like my ginger roots, too.

Are they usually difficult to dig up? I'm not at all familiar with ginger plants.

Yes, they are difficult to dig, much like Bamboo.

Well, the mystery was solved on the I.D. forum - they are Smilax tubers!

Smilax!!! The toughest weeds you want to get rid of! Phews!!!