Rain falls on it constantly. Dermatocarpon miniatum looks like a piece of leather stuck to the rock. Its body is leafy with broad, rounded lobes that are thick and leathery. The colour is pale greyish-brown to olive-green when dry. It turns dark green when wet. The lobes cling so tightly to the rock that you cannot slip a fingernail underneath. It is the lichen of the leathery lobe. What makes it special is the texture. It is one of the thickest and most leathery lichens in New Zealand. The lobes are tough like rawhide or old leather. When dry, it is stiff and brittle. When wet, it becomes soft and pliable. Almost like a wet leaf. It can withstand the splash of the waterfall and the scrape of the stone. It is a foliose lichen. It grows in flat, leafy lobes attached to the substrate at points. The upper surface is smooth and shiny when wet. It is dull and wrinkled when dry. The underside is pale with a dense mat of rhizines. These tiny, root-like structures anchor it to the rock. Under a hand lens, the rhizines are visible as a dense mat of threads. Biologically, it is a partnership between a fungus and an alga. The fungus provides structure and protection. The alga provides food through photosynthesis. It is adapted to damp, shaded locations where other lichens struggle. Its thick lobes help it retain moisture during periods of drying. To find dermatocarpon lichen is to find the leathery patch on the wet rock. It is pale, thick, and tough. A living skin on the stone. You can touch it and feel the texture. It clings close to the rock like a second skin. It proves that the toughest things are often the most flexible. It carries on.