Doug is there any chance you post a picture?

They sound like the seed pods. I'd snap them off, unless you want to try growing from seed. Probably take years and years to get to flowering size.

Beattie's right. Usually at least 3 years from seed to bloom, and there's no way to tell what they will look like when they bloom. If you remove the seed pods, more energy will go into the new corm(s), which will mean more and bigger flowers next year.