What could this possibly be? This root/bulb has been exposed for a couple months now but in the last two days has sprouted these new green leaves! Any guesses? I'm in zone 8b

Eucomis, aka Pineapple Lily?

The emerging foliage does look a lot like that of Pineapple Lily (Eucomis) Some photos from our database for comparison:

I think that's a True Lily bulb, (Lilium), could be garden hybrid, but later when it flowers you will be sure.

I say true lily, Lilium. It looks like a bulb that has divided. I can see where last year's stem was located, lower center. The bulb(s) should be covered with soil.

Tofi is good at identifying many plants and it could very well be Lilies (Lilium) I hope you will post a photo here of the flowers once it blooms!

For comparison, a database photo

@pardalinum knows lilies, she moderates our Lily forum: https://garden.org/forums/view...

Well just today I threw a couple shovels of soil over a bulb just like that. I didn't get it planted deep enough last fall and the winter/spring rains washed away what little soil was on top of it.

If you look where I mentioned before, where the old stem was, you can see old dead roots around it and hanging over the side. Many true lilies grow roots on the stem between the bulb and the top of the soil level. Another clue as to what this plant is. These roots provide most of the feeding. The roots that grow from the bottom of the bulb are mostly for anchoring the plant.

Because the top of this bulb is out of the soil, some slugs or snails may have eaten off the tips of the bulb scales. They do look a bit chewed on.

Also, this looks like it will be either a trumpet lily or what we call an Orienpet lily, a cross between an Oriental lily and a trumpet lily.