Lichen

? Usnea cornuta or inermis!
New Zealand evidently has over 2000 different lichens - which is 10% of the worlds lichens. So if I haven’t identified this one correctly, I’m sure you will forgive me!
Lichens are fascinating- they can stand extremes of temperature - some grow extremely slowly, others 1-2 cm a year. Many lichens have applications as sunscreens and healing agents with anti-cancer properties….I knew none of this when I took this photo this afternoon on a wee walk. All I was doing was checking that what I photographed was Lichen…thank you Google and to the NZ Scientists that have classified so many of our lichen.