lycopod vs fern ally

lycopod and fern ally both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
lycopod	Yes	No	No	No
fern ally	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, fern ally is a hypernym of lycopod; that is, fern ally is a word with a broader meaning than lycopod:

lycopod: primitive evergreen moss-like plant with spores in club-shaped strobiles
fern ally: pteridophytes of other classes than Filicopsida

lycopod (noun)	fern ally (noun)
primitive evergreen moss-like plant with spores in club-shaped strobiles	pteridophytes of other classes than Filicopsida