diff --git a/app/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..356d84d676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+module Api
+  class TaxonomiesController < Api::BaseController
+    respond_to :json
+
+    skip_authorization_check only: :jstree
+
+    def jstree
+      @taxonomy = Spree::Taxonomy.find(params[:id])
+      render json: @taxonomy.root, serializer: Api::TaxonJstreeSerializer
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..97f58d6324
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/taxonomies_controller_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+module Api
+  describe TaxonomiesController do
+    render_views
+
+    let(:taxonomy) { create(:taxonomy) }
+    let(:taxon) { create(:taxon, name: "Ruby", taxonomy: taxonomy) }
+    let(:taxon2) { create(:taxon, name: "Rails", taxonomy: taxonomy) }
+    let(:attributes) { [:id, :name] }
+
+    before do
+      allow(controller).to receive(:spree_current_user) { current_api_user }
+
+      taxon2.children << create(:taxon, name: "3.2.2", taxonomy: taxonomy)
+      taxon.children << taxon2
+      taxonomy.root.children << taxon
+    end
+
+    context "as a normal user" do
+      let(:current_api_user) { build(:user) }
+
+      it "gets the jstree-friendly version of a taxonomy" do
+        api_get :jstree, id: taxonomy.id
+
+        json_response["data"].should eq(taxonomy.root.name)
+        json_response["attr"].should eq("id" => taxonomy.root.id, "name" => taxonomy.root.name)
+        json_response["state"].should eq("closed")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end