What is a Succulent Bromeliad? (by Penrith Goff, S.E.Michigan Bromeliad Society)
Logically, any bromeliad capable of storing large amounts of water in the leaves is a succulent.  Thus, it is fair to call the atmospheric tillandsias, the airplants, succulent, as J. Riha and R. Subik do in their book The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cacti and Other Succulents (London:1992). However, the term succulent has become so closely associated with earth-bound desert dwellers that we will use the term for those terrestrial bromeliads which have developed succulence as an adaptation to a hostile climate. These frequently live among cactus in the arid, sunny landscape to which they have adapted. In general they do not develop the degree of succulence which is common to agaves and aloes, yet there are many which can easily be mistaken for these because the plant structure is so similar.